ABSTRACT
From 2003 to 2005, the second Schroder government implemented in Germany a comprehensive set of reforms coined as Agenda 2010. While the government's plans covered all areas of social insurance, the most significant measures eventually targeted the unemployment insurance (UI): the so-called Hartz reforms involved a deep recalibration of unemployment benefits as well as severe cuts in their generosity. These reforms generated a great deal of attention from both public and academic circles, not the least because they were implemented by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This chapter reviews the literature about the determinants of preferences for UI, focusing on contributions that emphasise the role of the insider-outsider cleavage in recent episodes of labour market reform. It details the major features of the Hartz reforms and outlines its political context and then presents the data and the estimation strategy.
