In recent years, employer-centered explanations of welfare state development have begun to challenge conventional labor-centered and state-centered explanations. These new explanations suggest that sector-specific business interests and cross-class alliances propelled the adoption and expansion...

This chapter analyses the impact of national employers' associations on the adoption of the main social insurance programs in Germany. The chapter focuses on four programs: work injury insurance, health insurance, old-age and disability pensions, and unemployment insurance. These four programs...