The emergence and evolution of social pacts in the EMU Era: What type of Institutionalization?

This article focuses on the emergence and evolution of social pacts in European countries in the last twenty years. While, the changing constrains related to the different phases of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and actors’ interests and resources are usually interpreted as the key variable affecting the evolution of social pacts, here we add a more institutionalist perspective. Through a historically oriented analysis of four countries (Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) that experienced peak-level agreements we trace the evolution of social pacts and shed light on the role of institutional dynamics.