The name is absent

Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?

The above analytical framework is useful in explaining the differences in both the economic per-
formance and the response to the flexicurity agenda, in the 4 countries under consideration. Denmark
and the Netherlands enjoy highly developed formal institutions, a prosperous and well performing
economy, and a collectivism that extends well beyond the boundaries of a narrow group of people
and encourages interaction and cooperation for the benefit of the wider community. These traits
are essential in forging a climate of trust and social partnership that make mutual concessions and
negotiated change possible. By contrast, Greece is situated exactly at the antipode, with dysfunctional
institutions, (illustrated mainly in the poor enforcement of regulations, the absence of accountability
and favouritism towards privileged groups); an economy prone by structural weaknesses; a narrow
sense of collectivism, based on traditional ties of allegiance; and an unwillingness to put the collective
interest above the individual one. Even when the principal actors are aware of the issues at stake, they
seem unable (or unwilling) to pursue common action. ⁷³ Overall, Greece typifies the society that has
enjoyed rapid economic growth, without having had time to develop its social capital that would fos-
ter widespread cooperation and direct it towards a high rather than a “miserable equilibrium”. Spain
stands somewhere in between, having started from a point of departure similar to that of Greece, but
slowly moving since the mid-1990s towards a more continental Europe system of cooperation and
social negotiation, in order to address the challenges of globalization and European integration.

Trust in the institutions

One important aspect for the implementation of the flexicurity agenda is the institutional capac-
ity of the state to implement the necessary control and enforcement mechanisms that prevent indi-
viduals from moral hazard (i.e. cheating against a generous social benefits system) and companies/
organizations from breaking the law (Viebrock & Clasen, 2009). The tendency to break the law in
many countries (esp. in the European South), whether with regard to the violation of the labour and
social security legislation or tax evasion practiced by both individuals and businesses, is often associ-

73 An illustration of this attitude is the lack of common understanding on how to address the present huge public
finance deficit or the social security and pensions’ reform.

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