An in-depth look at unemployment replacement rate convergence among 21 OECD countries.

摘要

This master's thesis examines convergence of unemployment replacement rates among 21 OECD member-states. Past literature has focused on the welfare state as a whole and/or several welfare state policies. While analyzing the welfare state as a whole, these articles ignored looking at certain policies in depth. By focusing solely on unemployment replacement rates, this thesis can more extensively explore cross-national convergence of this one policy area. My findings indicate that unemployment replacement rate convergence amongst OECD member-states from 1980 through 2009 is being driven mostly by convergence within the EU. The empirical evidence supports the notion of the EU and welfare state typologies as convergence clubs, accelerating the speed at which convergence is occurring.