The welfare politics of the flexibilisation of high-skilled workers in Europe
| dc.contributor.author | BORG, Maxime Joseph Malil | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-27T13:14:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-27T13:14:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description | Defence date: 27 January 2025 | en |
| dc.description | Examining Board: Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Bruno Palier (Sciences Po, external supervisor); Prof. Giuliano Bonoli (University of Lausanne); Prof. Waltraud Schelkle (European University Institute) | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation explores the flexibilisation of the high-skilled labour force. Traditional labour market segmentation theories, such as the routine-biased technological change (RBTC) and skill-biased technological change (SBTC) theories, strongly diverge in their predictions of the employment conditions for the lower end of the skill distribution. However, they all converge regarding high-skilled workers. Specifically, they assume that, given the crucial role of human capital in the transition to the knowledge economy, workers with a college education possess substantial bargaining power in individual negotiations with employers, enabling them to secure stable employment arrangements. This PhD dissertation challenges this assumption of empowerment of the high-skilled labour force in the knowledge economy. Over the last two decades, high-skilled workers have increasingly engaged in flexible work arrangements in several European economies, particularly through temporary employment and solo self-employment. This research aims to investigate the origins of the increasing prevalence of flexible work arrangements among high-skilled workers, as well as the consequences of this phenomenon on welfare state institutions in several European economies in the last two decades. In Paper 1, using a longitudinal fixed-effects regression analysis, I provide empirical evidence indicating that the formation of a surplus of high-skilled workers in the labour market is positively and significantly associated with the rising prevalence of temporary employment and solo self-employment within this segment of the labour force across several European economies over the past decade. The analysis further suggests that, in these countries, firms engaged in the knowledge economy have undertaken organisational changes, namely a shift to project-based network organisation, which contribute to these labour market transformations. In Papers 2 and 3, I argue that the flexibilisation of high-skilled workers in several economies has been accompanied by institutional changes in welfare states. By examining changes in social insurance and continuing vocational education and training (CVET) schemes, I provide empirical evidence suggesting that the flexibilisation of high-skilled workers has influenced the adoption of welfare reforms through shifts in the interests of political actors in both the electoral and producer group arenas. Specifically, in Paper 2, I trace the process of institutional changes in Spain, Italy, Finland, and Sweden, presenting empirical evidence that the rise in solo self-employment among high-skilled workers has shaped the interests of unions, as well as centre-left and centre-right parties, to advocate for improved social protection for the self-employed. In Paper 3, based on a case study of France and Germany, my co-author and I provide empirical evidence that the increasing prevalence of temporary employment and self-employment among high-skilled workers has influenced unions’ and political parties’ preferences in the CVET area, particularly toward the individualisation of training rights, which resulted in the adoption of several reforms in this direction. | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Florence : European University Institute, 2025 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.2870/8040222 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77843 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.orcid.putcode | 1814/80184:176735140 | |
| dc.orcid.upload | false | * |
| dc.publisher | European University Institute | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | EUI | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | SPS | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | PhD Thesis | en |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | en |
| dc.title | The welfare politics of the flexibilisation of high-skilled workers in Europe | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-5961-5454 | |
| person.identifier.other | 45176 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 25042a7c-1dc4-4b23-aeb6-fa1b9126a7f4 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 25042a7c-1dc4-4b23-aeb6-fa1b9126a7f4 |
