Age-based labour market stratification in Europe: A fuzzy set analysis

Abstract

This article examines the determinants of outsiderness among young people. By applying fsQCA, it first reveals two possible paths leading to this outcome and secondly that each of these paths requires fertile breeding grounds for social conflict and a small proportion of primary sector jobs. The first path combines a small proportion primary sector jobs, high employment protection, and poor coordination in the industrial relations system, while the second path combines a small proportion primary sector jobs, the absence of high employment protection, and liberalization. The first covers Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, while the second one refers to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark. Besides informing the debate among dualization scholars by highlighting the strengths of an institutionalist approach to the issue of labour market segmentation, this article draws attention to the Southern and Anglo-Saxon cases and identifies the conditions contributing to high levels of outsiderness among young people.