Getting Tough on Unemployment Essays on the politics of unemployment benefit reform in affluent democracies Knotz, Carlo Michael 2016 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Knotz, C. M. (2016). Getting Tough on Unemployment: Essays on the politics of unemployment benefit reform in affluent democracies. [Doctoral Thesis (compilation), Department of Political Science]. Lund University. 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Prin Ca ted by Med rlo M ia-Tryck, Lun iChael d U K Getting Tough on Unemployment niversity 20 notz 1 6 Thswrethaahqveriuect ie hragde dmo uvttnoaete nnepmnctuse p,ttd blogo yurdy egemeaxhmett eenoorntn cd pr biaruneecngsnie esetumshfi retepo s rlf ooa wnnyEmg euterhree ooen p fptu .eja on,iS bdeiNnsm, ccobpeoryl nto thsiyhmi edeAdpe mmorbesyiedid nr rs-igec u tdaiostu,at crblaiaiclnnettged ef -o rt1 Ahr9j oecu7l bas0tt-iismmrs,ae aeltaan hrfstceoishayr, Nordic Ecolabel 30 Getting To GEsseatytsi onng t hTeo puolgithic so onf uUnenmepmloypmloeyntm beennetfi t 41 u and by tightening the penalties for non-compliance with these rules. This 090 gh dissertation addresses several important gaps in the existing research on 3 O reform in affluent democracies the politics of these `demanding’ reforms. It overcomes a key limitation of n previous research, the lack of systematic comparative data, by drawing on U n Carlo MiChael Knotz two novel datasets on demanding unemployment benefit reforms. Four essays e m DepartMent of politiCal SCienCe | lunD univerSity provide novel insights about the changes that have been introduced, about the p determinants of voter attitudes, and about the roles of economic conditions lo y and the type of government. The first paper shows that, while the unemployed m are indeed under greater pressure to seek and accept work, this has not led to en a complete erosion of claimant rights. Not only are many rules and provisions t now formulated more precisely, making enforcement more predictable, but some protective provisions have actually been strengthened. The second paper shows that tighter sanctions are introduced in order to address the concerns of voters about overspending on social protection in austere times. The third paper shows that politically weak governments tend to compensate those who are hurt by demanding reforms by expanding labor market training programs, while this is not the case for governments who are in a stronger position. The fourth and final paper shows that the attitudes of voters toward demanding reforms driven by different considerations, depending on whether such reforms are being introduced or not. 2 Faculty of Social Sciences 44 0 Department of Political Science 3 5 Lund Political Studies 183 7 7 ISBN 978-91-7753-044-2 91 8 ISSN 0460-0037 7 9 Getting Tough on Unemployment Getting Tough on Unemployment Essays on the politics of unemployment benefit reform in affluent democracies byCarloMichaelKnotz DOCTORALDISSERTATION Thesisadvisors: ProfessorJohannesLindvall&ProfessorHannaBäck Facultyopponent: ProfessorSiljaHäusermann,UniversityofZurich Tobepresented,withthepermissionoftheFacultyofSocialSciencesofLundUniversity,forpubliccriticism atEdenshörsalattheDepartmentofPoliticalScienceonFriday,the9thofDecember2016at10:00. Organization Documentname LUNDUNIVERSITY DOCTORALDISSERTATION DepartmentofPoliticalScience Dateofdisputation Box52 2016-12-09 SE–22100LUND Sponsoringorganization Sweden Author(s) CarloMichaelKnotz Titleandsubtitle GettingToughonUnemployment:Essaysonthepoliticsofunemploymentbenefitreforminaffluentdemocracies Abstract TheadvanceddemocraciesofEurope, NorthAmerica, andAustralasiahavegottentoughonunemployment. Sincethemid-tolate-1970s,theystartedtoputgreaterpressureontheunemployedbyreducingthetimefor whichunemploymentbenefitswerepaid,byimposingstricterjob-searchrequirements,byextendingtherangeof jobsconsideredsuitableforclaimants,andbytighteningthepenaltiesfornon-compliancewiththeserules.This dissertationaddressesseveralimportantgapsintheexistingresearchonthepoliticsofthese‘demanding’reforms. Itovercomesakeylimitationofpreviousresearch,thelackofsystematiccomparativedata,bydrawingontwo noveldatasetsondemandingunemploymentbenefitreforms.Fouressaysprovidenovelinsightsaboutthechanges thathavebeenintroduced,aboutthedeterminantsofvoterattitudes,andabouttherolesofeconomicconditions andthetypeofgovernment.Thefirstpapershowsthat,whiletheunemployedareindeedundergreaterpressure toseekandacceptwork,thishasnotledtoacompleteerosionofclaimantrights. Notonlyaremanyrulesand provisionsnowformulatedmoreprecisely,makingenforcementmorepredictable,butsomeprotectiveprovisions haveactuallybeenstrengthened.Thesecondpapershowsthattightersanctionsareintroducedinordertoaddress theconcernsofvotersaboutoverspendingonsocialprotectioninausteretimes. Thethirdpapershowsthat 1 12 politicallyweakgovernmentstendtocompensatethosewhoarehurtbydemandingreformsbyexpandinglabor 4 1 markettrainingprograms,whilethisisnotthecaseforgovernmentswhoareinastrongerposition. Thefourth 6 SIS andfinalpapershowsthattheattitudesofvoterstowarddemandingreformsdrivenbydifferentconsiderations, nl dependingonwhethersuchreformsarebeingintroducedornot. e D A BL A AT D NT ME U K O D Keywords Welfarestatereform,Unemploymentbenefits,Conditionality,Attitudes,Coalitions Classificationsystemand/orindexterms(ifany) Supplementarybibliographicalinformation Language English ISSNandkeytitle ISBN issn:0460-0037;GettingToughonUnemployment 978-91-7753-044-2(print) 978-91-7753-045-9(pdf) Recipient’snotes Numberofpages Price 234 Securityclassification I,theundersigned,beingthecopyrightowneroftheabstractoftheabove-mentioneddissertation,herebygrantto allreferencesourcesthepermissiontopublishanddisseminatetheabstractoftheabove-mentioneddissertation. Signature Date 2016-10-31 Getting Tough on Unemployment Essays on the politics of unemployment benefit reform in affluent democracies byCarloMichaelKnotz DOCTORALDISSERTATION Thesisadvisors: ProfessorJohannesLindvall&ProfessorHannaBäck Facultyopponent: ProfessorSiljaHäusermann,UniversityofZurich Tobepresented,withthepermissionoftheFacultyofSocialSciencesofLundUniversity,forpubliccriticism atEdenshörsalattheDepartmentofPoliticalScienceonFriday,the9thofDecember2016at10:00. A doctoral thesis at a university in Sweden takes either the form of a single, cohesive re- searchstudy(monograph)orasummaryofresearchpapers(compilationthesis),whichthe doctoralstudenthaswrittenaloneortogetherwithoneorseveralotherauthor(s). Inthelattercasethethesisconsistsoftwoparts. Anintroductorytextputstheresearchwork intocontextandsummarizesthemainpointsofthepapers. Then,theresearchpublications themselves are reproduced, together with a description of the individual contributions of theauthors. Theresearchpapersmayeitherhavebeenalreadypublishedoraremanuscripts atvariousstages(inpress,submitted,orindraft). Fundinginformation: Igratefullyacknowledgehavingreceivedorbenefitedfromseveralresearch grants. TheEuropeanResearchCouncilprovidedfundingformypositionasadoctoralstudentin JohannesLindvall’s‘ReformCapacity’project(ERCstartinggrant284313). Creatingthedataseton unemploymentbenefitconditionsandsanctionswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthegenerous supportfromtheCrafoordFoundation(Ref. No. 20130621). AgrantfromtheSvenandDagmar SalénStiftelseallowedmetovisitNuffieldCollegeinOxford. Lastbutnotleast, theKarlStaaffs FondprovidedmewithfundingtotraveltoCanberra,Australia. © CarloMichaelKnotz2016 FacultyofSocialSciences,DepartmentofPoliticalScience LundPoliticalStudies183 isbn: 978-91-7753-044-2(print) isbn: 978-91-7753-045-9(pdf) issn: 0460-0037 PrintedinSwedenbyMedia-Tryck,LundUniversity,Lund2016 FürmeineMutter