Trade, employment, and welfare

In this book, Deborah Mabbett analyses the historical development of the political economy of Sweden and New Zealand. She examines the reasons why two countries, whose governments shared similar political objectives of full employment, income equality, and social security, should have developed markedly different policies towards the welfare state, wage bargaining, and trade. Sweden adhered, with a few exceptions, to a policy of free trade, while New Zealand was highly protectionist. Sweden's wage-fixing institutions were corporatist, while in New Zealand the state played a much larger role in wage determination. Sweden developed a much larger public sector and a more extensive system of social security transfers than New Zealand. Dr Mabbett investigates these differences through an examination of the whole set of economic and social policies adopted in the two countries in relation to employment and wage determination. . This study fills many gaps in the received historical account of Swedish corporatism, and demonstrates - against conventional wisdom - that successive New Zealand governments operated a coherent set of labour, trade, and social policies, although the relationships were rarely articulated. The analysis of trade policy goes beyond the 'interest group' approach, examining how current economic theories affect the way that interests are constructed and perceived, and how political and economic institutions affect the way that interests are acted upon.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.