With the global ascendancy of neoliberalism, shared (or “equitable”) growth has been in decline, vividly illustrated by the post-1980 American case: four decades of wage stagnation and rising wage inequality, high rates of job insecurity, and a growing crisis in the affordability of housing, education and health care for working families. But outcomes such as these have been far from uniform across countries. This course will explore the access of working families in different countries/regions to decent jobs and welfare state benefits, framed by some key questions: Can changes in decent-pay jobs, pay inequality, and job security be explained (as in the mainstream economics account) by market forces that raise the demand for cognitive skills, driven by the computerization and globalization of production? If this is the story, why haven’t markets (and public policies) adjusted to eliminate this skill mismatch, and why do national outcomes differ so much? Or is the problem, instead, mainly a reflection of shifts in relative worker bargaining power that differ substantially by nation/region, driven by political choices designed to reduce the size of the welfare state (austerity economics) and promote wage suppression? If this is the story, and the inclusivity, complementarity and coherence of institutional regimes are critical to earnings, employment performance and the overall wellbeing of working families (as in the comparative political economy account), which institutions matter most, in what combination, and for which workers? And further, if some capitalisms offer more protection (bargaining power) to workers, do we see a tradeoff with employment performance (e.g., the rate of unemployment), or can more egalitarian varieties of capitalism also be complementary with full employment?