many welfare states have components from some or all typologies, making them more akin to points on a continuum rather than rigid typologies, a fact Esping-Andersen acknowledges in his writings. According to French sociologist, Georges Menahem, Esping-Andersen's "decommodification index" aggregates both qualitative and quantitative variables for ”sets of dimensions” which are fluid, and pertain to three very different areas. Similarly, Menahem has concerns regarding the validity of the index, and its potential for replication. In 1996, the Italian Social Scientist Maurizio Ferrera, further developed Esping-Andersen's Worlds of Welfare by identifying a fourth subtype of the welfare state model, the Southern European Model of Welfare. Bibliography Books Esping-Andersen, Gosta Families in the 21st Century (Stockholm, 2016). Notes References 1947 births Danish academics Danish political scientists Danish sociologists Academic staff of the European University Institute Living people Academic staff of Pompeu Fabra University People from Næstved Municipality Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy