ABSTRACT
In the literature on the role of institutions in European labour markets we are encouraged to accept one of two models. Either institutions are seen as dysfunctional for labour markets since they cause them to be inflexible, or a dense ensemble of interlocking institutions is regarded as necessary to coordinate the labour market (as happens in Germany). Much of the academic debate is taken up with assessing the relative merits of these models-flexibility or coordination. But if the functioning of most European industrial relations systems, outside Britain and Germany, is examined, it becomes apparent almost immediately that none of them can be described as fully flexible or completely coordinated.
