The debate on national welfare states is torn between assessments of strong patterns of continuity, path dependence and a dramatic erosion of the welfare state due to globalization and the rise of the service economy. In fact, the institutional foundations of welfare states adapt only slowly to a rapidly changing social, economic and demographic environment. The research group is particularly interested in the pathways of institutional change and the complementarities between different types of welfare and employment institutions and policy instruments.

Projects
• Regimes of Equality (Alexander Graser)
• The Political Economy of Labour Market Reforms (Anke Hassel, Christof Schiller)
• The Policy Ideas and Practice of Active Ageing: Political, Economical, and Cultural Challenges in Europe (Stein Kuhnle)
• European Labour - Institutional Foundations of Supply-Side Equality (Anke Hassel, Anne Sander, Henni Hensen)
• The Effects of Globalization on Equality Policies Pursued by National and International Actors (dissertation Katri Kemppainen-Bertram)
• Gleichheitsorientierte Politiken in Japan. Die Umsetzung der verfassungsrechtlichen Gleichheitsrechte im Spannungsfeld von internationalen Vorgaben, traditioneller Sozialstruktur und rezipierter westlicher Rechtskultur (dissertation Dan Tidten)
• Labor Market Factors influencing Higher Education Policy in the United States and Germany (dissertation Anna van Santen)

Publications
• Stein Kuhnle and Marius Olivier (eds.): Norms and Institutional Design: Social Security in Norway and South Africa, Stellenbosch: Sun Press, 2008.
• Nanna Kildal and Stein Kuhnle: "Old Age Pensions, Poverty and Dignity: Historical Arguments for Universal Pensions", in: Global Social Policy, 2008:8: 208-237, 2008.
• Stein Kuhnle: "The Role of Civil Society for the Development of the Nordic Welfare States", in: Taiwanese Journal of Social Welfare, Vol. 7, No. 1, Invited Paper; 1-28, 2008.
• Stein Kuhnle and Christof Schiller: "The Erosion of the Institutional Pillars of the German Sozialstaat", in: The Korean Journal of Policy Studies, Vol. 23, No. 1: 73-103, 2008.
• Anke Hassel: "Policies and Politics of Social Pacts in Europe", in: European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2009.
• Anke Hassel: "Addressing Adverse Consequences of Globalisation for Workers and Families", in: Olaf Cramme and Patrick Diamond (eds.): Social Justice in a Global Age, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.