Axel van der Berg's main empirical research deals with the question whether and how different configurations of social protection and labour market policy undermine or strengthen economic efficiency. His theoretical interests range from the debates about the status of rational choice theory and its cultural-institutional alternatives within the social sciences, flawed attempts to integrate ‘agency’ and ‘structure’ in social science explanatory models, and fads and fashions in contemporary, especially self-declared ‘critical’ social theory.