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Manuel Al­var­iño

Postdoc

Subjects
Work-life balance Politics Welfare Poverty Equality

Primary research areas

Wel­fare state
I ex­am­ine the wel­fare state as a so­cial con­tract, an en­gine of uni­ver­sal in­sur­ance and re­dis­tri­bu­tion that shows up every­where from con­trib­ut­ory pen­sions to wage bar­gain­ing and health­care.
Com­par­at­ive polit­ic­al eco­nomy
Parties, uni­ons and em­ploy­ers mold in­sti­tu­tions in dis­tinct ways across coun­tries, pro­du­cing a wide ar­ray of so­cioeco­nom­ic land­scapes.
Com­par­at­ive polit­ics
Some so­ci­et­ies split over mor­al val­ues, oth­ers over re­dis­tri­bu­tion. I ana­lyze how polit­ic­al di­vides, in­sti­tu­tions and party sys­tems dif­fer across bor­ders and trans­late into con­trast­ing policy out­comes.

Polit­ics that shape our wel­fare

Work-Life Balance Project

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher on the AGILE Work-Life Balance project, where we examine how national policies and workplace practices enable parents to combine fulfilling employment, family life and leisure. We do this through an original survey, focus groups and in-depth workplace studies.

 

Comparative Welfare States

More broadly, my research explains why some welfare states expand social rights differently from others. I focus on how party competition and advocacy groups shape family, labor-market and gender-equality policies.

 

Key Ideas

Generous, well-designed work-life balance policies are essential for sustainable demographics and economies.

Once introduced, social policies take root in society and firms, becoming resistant to political change.

Parties influence one another through the legacies of the policies they enact.

Publications

See all publications

17 February 2026

New Dog, Old Tricks

Strategic Moderation After Failed Secession in the Catalan Nationalist Right

Ma­nu­el Alva­riño, Postdoc

Llorenç Soler-Buades

Pau Torres
Go to publication

5 February 2026

Redefining Influence

How a Feminist Advocacy Group Reformed Paternity Leave in Spain Through Insider Women’s Alliances

Ma­nu­el Alva­riño, Postdoc

Go to publication

July 2025

Conviction or Consent?

Tracing the Influence of Coalition Partners on Family Policy Under Centre-Right Ministers

Ma­nu­el Alva­riño, Postdoc

Milan Thies
Go to publication

Recent research projects

AGILE - Achiev­ing Work-Life Bal­ance: Cit­izens, Policies, and Firm Per­spect­ives

AGILE is a com­par­at­ive study of how policies shape the in­ter­ac­tion between paid work, fam­ily care and free time to build a new the­ory of work-life bal­ance. Us­ing cross-coun­try sur­veys and fo­cus groups, we study cit­izen’s prac­tices. Through policy ana­lys­is, we study how policies ex­plain vari­ation across coun­tries. In­quir­ing into 24 firm case stud­ies, we un­veil work­place prac­tices with mean­ing­ful im­pact.
webpage

Links

Per­son­al web­site
You can ac­cess all my pub­lic­a­tions and on­go­ing work in my per­son­al web­site
Manuel Alvariño Website
On­go­ing pro­ject
Find more de­tails and pub­lic­a­tions from the AGILE pro­ject here
Agile WLB

Outside activities

PhD at the EUI , 2021 - 2025

I earned my PhD at the European Uni­ver­sity In­sti­tute, Florence. I par­ti­cip­ated in the WELL­SIRE ERC pro­ject.
WELLSIRE

Ap­plied know­ledge trans­fer , 2018 - now

I write ap­plied re­search for a broad­er audi­ence on pub­lic policy and eco­nom­ics with a fo­cus on Cata­lonia.
Espai Zero Vuit

Press , 2021 - now

I write op-eds in Span­ish news­pa­pers about polit­ics and pub­lic policy
Press articles list