ABSTRACT
In the post world war II era of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, Western Europe was able to offer to its work-force very high levels of security, pay, benefits, and social services. In spite of very distinctive differences between European models of capitalism, deeply embedded in national cultures and history, the overall European quality of life has become the envy of the world. In practice European Union policy is based mainly on capital flows as means to assure convergence of the labor market conditions across the community. Substantial movement of labor from depressed or less developed to more prosperous countries are considered undesirable because of political and social reasons. Europe is rightly considered to be the birth-place of modern bureaucracies. They take many different forms; from caricatures of rationality in the communist countries to highly efficient machine-like organizations. Division of labor, hierarchies, privileges and chains of command are deeply entrenched in European mentality.
