Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

to be followed by the legislator and the way they exert influence on the legislation process
and on institutional change. Due to that restriction, my model resembles Windhoff-
Héritier´s (1991) approach based on Elster´s (1979: 112-117) ´two-filter model´.
The structure of the next sections 3.2. and 3.3. will be as follows: The first, descriptive
sub-sections will present German and Polish institutions which are of relevance to the
prolongation of working life. Focus will be put on old-age pension insurance, disability
insurance, passive and active labour market policy. Also structural changes with regard to
the labour market and sectoral composition will be described. The statistical sections 3.2.3.
and 3.3.4. will analyse how the changes within those institutions (e.g. restricted access to
disability pensions) have influenced the inflow into the pension system and prolonged
employment and how they have shaped the retirement preferences of Germans and Poles.
Those findings will lay the foundations for assessing hypothesis 4.
The descriptive passages about the politics of social partners with regard to retirement
transitions (sections 3.2.4. and 3.3.5.) will centre on the model of industrial relations and the
impact of social partners within and outside of the firm on various aspects of personnel
policy. That will form a basis for delimiting hypothesis 7.
The comparative chapter (section 3.4.) will have an analytic focus. It will depict the
institutional and structural barriers and opportunities for prolonged employment and
compare Poland and Germany in that respect. On that basis, hypothesis 6 which was
expounded in the theoretical section will be tested.
3.2. Germany – Institutional Profile
In this section, I will describe the development in the German old-age and disability
pension policy and active and passive labour market policy. Only such developments will be
discussed which have a bearing on the pull factors of early exit. The old-age pension system
for miners and for civil servants will not be dealt with.
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