The Missing Link

Technological Change, Dual VET, and Social Policy Preferences

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9782004
AutoresMatthias Haslberger (0000-0003-3056-6630, University of St.Gallen, autor correspondente), Patrick Emmenegger (0000-0002-5231-6272, University of St.Gallen), Niccolo Durazzi (0000-0001-7581-5595, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
Ano2026
Volume56
Data de publicação2026-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoBritish Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0007-1234 • E-ISSN: 1469-2112
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0007123426101446
OpenAlexW7151544447
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas63

How does technological change affect social policy preferences? We advance this lively debate by focusing on the role of dual vocational education and training (VET). Existing literature would lead us to expect that dual VET increases demand for compensatory social policy and magnifies the effect of automation risk on such demands. In contrast, we contend that dual VET weakens demand for compensatory social policy through three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that we refer to as (i) material self-interest; (ii) workplace socialization; and (iii) skill certification. We further hypothesize that dual VET mitigates the association between automation risk and social policy preferences. Analyzing cross-national individual data from the European Social Survey and national-level data on education systems, we find strong evidence for our argument. The paper advances the debate on social policy preferences in the age of automation and sheds new light on the relationship between skill formation and social policy preferences

Affect (linguistics) · Automation · Dual (grammatical number) · European Social Survey · Social policy · Technological change · Vocational education · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics