The name is absent

Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?

only marginally increased total employment levels, but it reduced costs in the retail sector and selected
services. Similarly, the encouragement of fixed term contracts mostly benefited the agricultural and
tourism sectors. Overall, legislation facilitating and/or encouraging flexibility had isolated positive
effects but a limited overall impact. This may be explained partly by the low share of the workforce
affected and partly because it was unable to change deeply-rooted attitudes and policies. Thus, the
predominance of informal activities and violations persists, while the formal part of the market has
only marginally become more flexible (European Commission, 2005).

The example of Greece suggests that legislation is not in itself a sufficient pre-requisite for
promoting flexibility, if the main social actors do not share the same policy objectives, and are not
involved in all stages of policy design and implementation, but also, if the enforcement of the regu-
lations at the workplace is poor, owing to the ineffectiveness of inspection mechanisms and the lack
of political will.

6.4. The influence of cultural factors in managing change
and uncertainty

Culture is an umbrella concept that encompasses a wide range of definitions. It is often, mistak-
enly, seen as homogeneous and static and its potential to change and develop overtime is overlooked.
Cultural factors, in particular, are often under-estimated when addressing policy implementation is-
sues and assessing the impact of reforms. However, individual and collective behaviour cannot be
explained solely on the grounds of economic and political considerations.

Resistance to change

Opposition to change, and opposition to reform in particular, is a common situation in most
European countries, especially in times of growing uncertainty for the future.

Quite often changes are rejected because individuals prefer the certainty of acquired rights (and
vested interests, in the case of more powerful segments of the workforce) rather than the uncertainty
of future gains, even if no change at all entails the risk of loosing everything (a job, an income, a
pension, etc...). Nowhere is this clearer than in the vehement opposition to the reform of the social
security and pension systems in a number of European countries, despite the increased awareness
of the issues at stake. Similarly, people are understandably unwilling to accept labour market transi-

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