Service Expansion, International Exposure, and Political Preferences

Bibliographic Data

ID23213101
AuthorsAnne Wren, Philipp Rehm (0000-0002-6026-824X)
Year2013
Pages248-281
Publication date2013-01-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenuePolitical Economy of the Service Transition (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657285.003.0008
OpenAlexW2486136190
ISBN9780199657285
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited11

In this chapter, Wren and Rehm show that, in tandem with the process of deindustrialization itself, one of the most striking demographic changes which has occurred in the labor markets of the economically advanced democracies since the 1970s has been the movement of large numbers of highly skilled workers from sheltered professional jobs in “welfare” sectors (such as government, education, and health) to highly paid positions in private and internationally traded service sectors (like business services and finance). The political significance of this change cannot be underestimated. In the past, highly skilled public sector workers have formed an important part of the cross-class coalition in support of Left-wing parties: public sector workers at all skill levels are predisposed both to vote for Left governments and to favor relatively high levels of welfare state provision. Making use of public opinion data from a set of thirteen OECD countries, Wren and Rehm show, however, that when highly skilled workers instead occupy jobs where they are exposed to international competition, their concerns for economic competitiveness are more likely to cause them to vote for lower levels of welfare state spending (and lower taxes) and redistribution, and to switch their partisan allegiances toward Right-wing parties. The authors conclude that as more and more highly skilled workers make the transition into exposed sectors (as a result of the expansion in trade and employment in high-end services), the cross-class coalition in support of redistribution, welfare state spending, and Left-wing parties may be increasingly undermined in many countries.

Business · Competition (biology) · Economic policy · Economics · Economy · Labour economics · Market economy · Political science · Politics · Public sector · Redistribution (election) · Welfare · Welfare state · Employment and Welfare Studies · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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