Vivien A. Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253685
- eISBN:
- 9780191600210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253684.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter adds to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature by demonstrating that economic practices of countries are not converging on a one‐size‐fits‐all neo‐liberal model of capitalism, despite ...
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This chapter adds to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature by demonstrating that economic practices of countries are not converging on a one‐size‐fits‐all neo‐liberal model of capitalism, despite the fact that all have become more market‐oriented. Instead, they continue to be differentiable into not just two varieties of capitalism, conforming to liberal or coordinated market economies, but three, along lines of development from the original three postwar models of capitalism. The chapter contrasts the three varieties of capitalism in terms of interfirm relations, business‐government relations, and management‐labour relations; outlines the differential national pathways of adjustment of the countries conforming to the three varieties; highlights their continuing differences using indicators related to the financial markets and production systems; and considers their comparative advantages and disadvantages. It concludes that while British market capitalism has gone farther in its traditional market‐oriented direction, German managed capitalism is under strain, while French state capitalism has been transformed but has become neither market nor managed capitalist.Less
This chapter adds to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature by demonstrating that economic practices of countries are not converging on a one‐size‐fits‐all neo‐liberal model of capitalism, despite the fact that all have become more market‐oriented. Instead, they continue to be differentiable into not just two varieties of capitalism, conforming to liberal or coordinated market economies, but three, along lines of development from the original three postwar models of capitalism. The chapter contrasts the three varieties of capitalism in terms of interfirm relations, business‐government relations, and management‐labour relations; outlines the differential national pathways of adjustment of the countries conforming to the three varieties; highlights their continuing differences using indicators related to the financial markets and production systems; and considers their comparative advantages and disadvantages. It concludes that while British market capitalism has gone farther in its traditional market‐oriented direction, German managed capitalism is under strain, while French state capitalism has been transformed but has become neither market nor managed capitalist.
Vivien A. Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253685
- eISBN:
- 9780191600210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253684.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter details the different dynamics of economic adjustment in Britain, Germany, and France from the postwar period until today. For Britain, it describes the problems of business in the ...
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This chapter details the different dynamics of economic adjustment in Britain, Germany, and France from the postwar period until today. For Britain, it describes the problems of business in the postwar period and the impact of the radical therapy of the Thatcher years that brought the country closer to the market capitalist ideal by making business relations more distant, government relations more arm's length, and labour relations more market‐reliant. For Germany, it outlines the minimal change from the postwar period until the 1990s, followed by efforts to make the managed capitalist system more competitive, which have left the system under strain, as interfirm relations have loosened, labour‐management relations have become less cooperative, and government has sought to facilitate adjustment, often unsuccessfully. For France, finally, the chapter examines the major transformation in state capitalism since the mid‐1980s with the move away from state‐led capitalism to a more state‐enhanced variety, where business is more autonomous and labour more market‐reliant, but the state still has a role to play.Less
This chapter details the different dynamics of economic adjustment in Britain, Germany, and France from the postwar period until today. For Britain, it describes the problems of business in the postwar period and the impact of the radical therapy of the Thatcher years that brought the country closer to the market capitalist ideal by making business relations more distant, government relations more arm's length, and labour relations more market‐reliant. For Germany, it outlines the minimal change from the postwar period until the 1990s, followed by efforts to make the managed capitalist system more competitive, which have left the system under strain, as interfirm relations have loosened, labour‐management relations have become less cooperative, and government has sought to facilitate adjustment, often unsuccessfully. For France, finally, the chapter examines the major transformation in state capitalism since the mid‐1980s with the move away from state‐led capitalism to a more state‐enhanced variety, where business is more autonomous and labour more market‐reliant, but the state still has a role to play.
Rudra Sil and Christopher Candland
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This concluding chapter considers what is gained by juxtaposing the varied analyses within a common framework intended to analyse the effects of distinctive institutional legacies on the responses to ...
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This concluding chapter considers what is gained by juxtaposing the varied analyses within a common framework intended to analyse the effects of distinctive institutional legacies on the responses to common pressures frequently associated with ‘globalization.’ The chapter begins by considering some of the shared features of industrial relations that emerged in the course of industrialization in late developing and socialist states, noting some factors that make it difficult to apply models based on the experiences of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D.) countries to the analysis of labour regimes elsewhere. The comparisons also reveal important differences that distinguished industrial relations in socialist countries from those in post‐colonial contexts, and the ways in which these differences may contribute to different patterns and outcomes in the transformation of industrial relations in the two contexts. The remainder of the chapter highlights similarities and differences in trends across the cases considered in the contributions to this volume, and goes on to inductively construct a theoretical scheme for tracing how varied historical inheritances in the late‐industrializing and post‐socialist economies create different sets of expectations, pressures, and challenges for economic reformers as well as for workers and organized labour. The role of unique historical factors and institutional structures is also considered, with new questions raised on the basis of specific variations that occur within or cut across the categories of post‐socialist and post‐colonial settings. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the concept of globalization is most useful when it is employed not as a universal model for projecting trajectories of institutional change but as a more restricted framework for capturing the common challenges facing labour and other economic factors in the process of economic adjustment.Less
This concluding chapter considers what is gained by juxtaposing the varied analyses within a common framework intended to analyse the effects of distinctive institutional legacies on the responses to common pressures frequently associated with ‘globalization.’ The chapter begins by considering some of the shared features of industrial relations that emerged in the course of industrialization in late developing and socialist states, noting some factors that make it difficult to apply models based on the experiences of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D.) countries to the analysis of labour regimes elsewhere. The comparisons also reveal important differences that distinguished industrial relations in socialist countries from those in post‐colonial contexts, and the ways in which these differences may contribute to different patterns and outcomes in the transformation of industrial relations in the two contexts. The remainder of the chapter highlights similarities and differences in trends across the cases considered in the contributions to this volume, and goes on to inductively construct a theoretical scheme for tracing how varied historical inheritances in the late‐industrializing and post‐socialist economies create different sets of expectations, pressures, and challenges for economic reformers as well as for workers and organized labour. The role of unique historical factors and institutional structures is also considered, with new questions raised on the basis of specific variations that occur within or cut across the categories of post‐socialist and post‐colonial settings. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the concept of globalization is most useful when it is employed not as a universal model for projecting trajectories of institutional change but as a more restricted framework for capturing the common challenges facing labour and other economic factors in the process of economic adjustment.
Christopher Candland and Rudra Sil (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This book analyses and compares recent shifts in patterns of industrial relations across late-industrializing and post-socialist economies. The book features chapters on labor relations at national, ...
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This book analyses and compares recent shifts in patterns of industrial relations across late-industrializing and post-socialist economies. The book features chapters on labor relations at national, local, and workplace levels, as economic and political actors cope with the similar challenges associated with economic adjustment measures and the impact of “globalization”. The book reveals that while globalization has threatened the position of organized labor and prompted business and state elites to accommodate greater labor market flexibility, the legacies of past institutions remain evident in destinctive trends in labor politics within and across late-industrializing and post-socialist settings. The comparisons suggest that globalization is best understood not as a source of covergence but as a set of common pressures that are mediated by specific historical inheritances, that spur varied responses on the part of industrial relations actors, and that facilitate quite diverse institutional outcomes.Less
This book analyses and compares recent shifts in patterns of industrial relations across late-industrializing and post-socialist economies. The book features chapters on labor relations at national, local, and workplace levels, as economic and political actors cope with the similar challenges associated with economic adjustment measures and the impact of “globalization”. The book reveals that while globalization has threatened the position of organized labor and prompted business and state elites to accommodate greater labor market flexibility, the legacies of past institutions remain evident in destinctive trends in labor politics within and across late-industrializing and post-socialist settings. The comparisons suggest that globalization is best understood not as a source of covergence but as a set of common pressures that are mediated by specific historical inheritances, that spur varied responses on the part of industrial relations actors, and that facilitate quite diverse institutional outcomes.
Philip Manow and Eric Seils
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240920
- eISBN:
- 9780191600180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240922.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Germany was comparatively successful in weathering the macroeconomic crises of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its industrial sector remained highly competitive throughout. Nevertheless, unemployment ...
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Germany was comparatively successful in weathering the macroeconomic crises of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its industrial sector remained highly competitive throughout. Nevertheless, unemployment has been high and is still rising. The impact of unification is only a part of the explanation. Instead, the very formula for Germany's past success is also the key to its current problems. Cooperative labour relations, on which German international competitiveness depends, were maintained by using the welfare state's generous exit options from the labour market for older and less productive workers. Given the prevailing mode of financing the “Bismarckian” welfare state, however, the resulting rise of social security contributions added to the costs of labour throughout the economy. As the government relied on the same solution in coping with the massive employment losses in East Germany after unification, non‐wage labour costs have risen to a level that can be sustained only by highly productive types of work. This constrains the growth of private services that have compensated industrial job losses in other countries.Less
Germany was comparatively successful in weathering the macroeconomic crises of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its industrial sector remained highly competitive throughout. Nevertheless, unemployment has been high and is still rising. The impact of unification is only a part of the explanation. Instead, the very formula for Germany's past success is also the key to its current problems. Cooperative labour relations, on which German international competitiveness depends, were maintained by using the welfare state's generous exit options from the labour market for older and less productive workers. Given the prevailing mode of financing the “Bismarckian” welfare state, however, the resulting rise of social security contributions added to the costs of labour throughout the economy. As the government relied on the same solution in coping with the massive employment losses in East Germany after unification, non‐wage labour costs have risen to a level that can be sustained only by highly productive types of work. This constrains the growth of private services that have compensated industrial job losses in other countries.
Michel Goyer and Bob Hancké
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199263677
- eISBN:
- 9780191718373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263677.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability
By the end of the 1990s, the character of French corporate governance suggested that large companies in France had gone far in adopting Anglo-Saxon practices. This picture of substantial ...
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By the end of the 1990s, the character of French corporate governance suggested that large companies in France had gone far in adopting Anglo-Saxon practices. This picture of substantial transformation of corporate governance contrasts sharply with conventional images of the French corporate system as one that permanently generates obstacles to change. This chapter explains the apparent contradiction between this image of France and the major shifts in corporate governance that have apparently taken place. It is argued that the weakness of labour in French corporate governance explains to a large extent why and how corporate restructuring over the last two decades led to a pronounced turn towards Anglo-Saxon governance patterns.Less
By the end of the 1990s, the character of French corporate governance suggested that large companies in France had gone far in adopting Anglo-Saxon practices. This picture of substantial transformation of corporate governance contrasts sharply with conventional images of the French corporate system as one that permanently generates obstacles to change. This chapter explains the apparent contradiction between this image of France and the major shifts in corporate governance that have apparently taken place. It is argued that the weakness of labour in French corporate governance explains to a large extent why and how corporate restructuring over the last two decades led to a pronounced turn towards Anglo-Saxon governance patterns.
Sandro Trento
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199263677
- eISBN:
- 9780191718373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263677.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter argues that the Italian variety of capitalism cannot be viewed as either market-based or relationship-based. Instead, Italy has specific ‘institutional complementarities’, which arise ...
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This chapter argues that the Italian variety of capitalism cannot be viewed as either market-based or relationship-based. Instead, Italy has specific ‘institutional complementarities’, which arise from path-dependent patterns of historical evolution. The main grounds for rejecting the market or relationship characterization of the governance and labour relations systems are discussed.Less
This chapter argues that the Italian variety of capitalism cannot be viewed as either market-based or relationship-based. Instead, Italy has specific ‘institutional complementarities’, which arise from path-dependent patterns of historical evolution. The main grounds for rejecting the market or relationship characterization of the governance and labour relations systems are discussed.
Franz Traxler, Sabine Blaschke, and Bernhard Kittel
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198295549
- eISBN:
- 9780191685132
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198295549.003.0018
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Political Economy
Convergence and path dependency are competing hypotheses for explaining the institutional developments and their effects on performance, through views on the interplay of markets, institutional ...
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Convergence and path dependency are competing hypotheses for explaining the institutional developments and their effects on performance, through views on the interplay of markets, institutional change, and performance. Path dependency may result from the existence of functional equivalents that allow countries to adapt to various market pressures or from institutional lock-ins that deter such pressures. Path dependency occurs when the distinct dimensions of labour relations co-vary in their level or organization. This chapter presents findings regarding the effect of the distinct dimensions of labour relations on development and performance which can aid in a better understanding of how path dependency is related to economic internationalization.Less
Convergence and path dependency are competing hypotheses for explaining the institutional developments and their effects on performance, through views on the interplay of markets, institutional change, and performance. Path dependency may result from the existence of functional equivalents that allow countries to adapt to various market pressures or from institutional lock-ins that deter such pressures. Path dependency occurs when the distinct dimensions of labour relations co-vary in their level or organization. This chapter presents findings regarding the effect of the distinct dimensions of labour relations on development and performance which can aid in a better understanding of how path dependency is related to economic internationalization.
Sarah Washbrook
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264973
- eISBN:
- 9780191754128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264973.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter examines the relationship between debt peonage and regional export development between 1876 and 1914 in four departments of Chiapas: Pichucalco, Chilón, and Palenque in the north of the ...
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This chapter examines the relationship between debt peonage and regional export development between 1876 and 1914 in four departments of Chiapas: Pichucalco, Chilón, and Palenque in the north of the state and Soconusco on the Pacific coast. All of these departments underwent considerable commercial development during the Porfiriato based on the production of tropical agricultural commodities such as coffee, cacao, rubber, and hard woods, and Soconusco, Palenque, and Chilón were recipients of significant foreign capital. However, the impact of market development on labour relations was not uniform: whereas in Soconusco plantation agriculture tended to undermine labour coercion, in the other departments these years saw the intensification and spread of servile peonage. The chapter shows that such changes were principally the product of regional market conditions and the capacity of the state to intervene in the process of labour contracting.Less
This chapter examines the relationship between debt peonage and regional export development between 1876 and 1914 in four departments of Chiapas: Pichucalco, Chilón, and Palenque in the north of the state and Soconusco on the Pacific coast. All of these departments underwent considerable commercial development during the Porfiriato based on the production of tropical agricultural commodities such as coffee, cacao, rubber, and hard woods, and Soconusco, Palenque, and Chilón were recipients of significant foreign capital. However, the impact of market development on labour relations was not uniform: whereas in Soconusco plantation agriculture tended to undermine labour coercion, in the other departments these years saw the intensification and spread of servile peonage. The chapter shows that such changes were principally the product of regional market conditions and the capacity of the state to intervene in the process of labour contracting.
Michael Shalev
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198285137
- eISBN:
- 9780191684494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198285137.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter examines the strengths, weaknesses, and mystery of the corporatist system of industrial relations, which began in Israel after the country gained its sovereignty in 1948. The chapter ...
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This chapter examines the strengths, weaknesses, and mystery of the corporatist system of industrial relations, which began in Israel after the country gained its sovereignty in 1948. The chapter begins with a discussion of the transition of the country to sovereignty. The dynamics of political-economic mediation of labour relations are considered, focusing on the antecedents and consequences of the unemployment in the mid-1960s. The chapter demonstrates the decade of labour peace which was followed by the transition to sovereignty and corporatism.Less
This chapter examines the strengths, weaknesses, and mystery of the corporatist system of industrial relations, which began in Israel after the country gained its sovereignty in 1948. The chapter begins with a discussion of the transition of the country to sovereignty. The dynamics of political-economic mediation of labour relations are considered, focusing on the antecedents and consequences of the unemployment in the mid-1960s. The chapter demonstrates the decade of labour peace which was followed by the transition to sovereignty and corporatism.
Jean François Mayer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781683400455
- eISBN:
- 9781683400677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400455.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
Despite Mexico’s economic restructuring to a market-based model and its transition to democracy, two processes that should have yielded changes in labor legislation and the practice of labor ...
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Despite Mexico’s economic restructuring to a market-based model and its transition to democracy, two processes that should have yielded changes in labor legislation and the practice of labor relations, neither significant flexibilization of the labor code nor democratization of labor relations occurred between 1988 and 2012. Analysis of Mexico during this period indicates that this high degree of continuity is mainly attributable to the specific configuration taken by the country’s neoliberal economic model. This configuration generated a structure of incentives for political and labor elites to favor the persistence of non-democratic patterns of labor relations and to leave the country’s labor legislation essentially untouched.Less
Despite Mexico’s economic restructuring to a market-based model and its transition to democracy, two processes that should have yielded changes in labor legislation and the practice of labor relations, neither significant flexibilization of the labor code nor democratization of labor relations occurred between 1988 and 2012. Analysis of Mexico during this period indicates that this high degree of continuity is mainly attributable to the specific configuration taken by the country’s neoliberal economic model. This configuration generated a structure of incentives for political and labor elites to favor the persistence of non-democratic patterns of labor relations and to leave the country’s labor legislation essentially untouched.
Landon R. Y. Storrs
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153964
- eISBN:
- 9781400845255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153964.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter looks at key figures in the emerging anticommunist network and analyzes two early episodes: the Smith Committee attack on the National Labor Relations Board and its allies, and the Dies ...
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This chapter looks at key figures in the emerging anticommunist network and analyzes two early episodes: the Smith Committee attack on the National Labor Relations Board and its allies, and the Dies Committee attack on the consumer movement, especially the League of Women Shoppers and the Office of Price Administration. The power of the labor movement in stimulating the reaction against the New Deal is well known, but the consumer movement should be recognized as another major trigger. Women were important in the ascendance of both industrial unionism and organized consumerism, and conservatives highlighted women's role in an effort to undermine public confidence in those movements and their allied government agencies.Less
This chapter looks at key figures in the emerging anticommunist network and analyzes two early episodes: the Smith Committee attack on the National Labor Relations Board and its allies, and the Dies Committee attack on the consumer movement, especially the League of Women Shoppers and the Office of Price Administration. The power of the labor movement in stimulating the reaction against the New Deal is well known, but the consumer movement should be recognized as another major trigger. Women were important in the ascendance of both industrial unionism and organized consumerism, and conservatives highlighted women's role in an effort to undermine public confidence in those movements and their allied government agencies.
Franz Traxler, Sabine Blaschke, and Bernhard Kittel
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198295549
- eISBN:
- 9780191685132
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198295549.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Political Economy
The regulation of the labour market by industrial-relations institutions has been an important theme in sociology, political science, economics, and jurisprudence. What has particularly attracted ...
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The regulation of the labour market by industrial-relations institutions has been an important theme in sociology, political science, economics, and jurisprudence. What has particularly attracted attention from a comparative perspective is the astonishing variety of national labour-relations institutions. This variety, when confronted with persistent economic internationalisation raises two main questions. First, does internationalisation impose pressures for change and, more specifically, for convergence on institutions? If such pressures are at work, is there a superior model the national systems are converging on? Second, under economic internationalisation, cross-national differences in national arrangements may have an increasing impact on national economic performance. Hence the question is whether national labour-relations systems perform differently, and to what extent their performance has changed over time due to shifting circumstances. This book investigates these questions on the basis of a cross-national comparison, including comparable data from twenty OECD countries.Less
The regulation of the labour market by industrial-relations institutions has been an important theme in sociology, political science, economics, and jurisprudence. What has particularly attracted attention from a comparative perspective is the astonishing variety of national labour-relations institutions. This variety, when confronted with persistent economic internationalisation raises two main questions. First, does internationalisation impose pressures for change and, more specifically, for convergence on institutions? If such pressures are at work, is there a superior model the national systems are converging on? Second, under economic internationalisation, cross-national differences in national arrangements may have an increasing impact on national economic performance. Hence the question is whether national labour-relations systems perform differently, and to what extent their performance has changed over time due to shifting circumstances. This book investigates these questions on the basis of a cross-national comparison, including comparable data from twenty OECD countries.
J. E. M. Thirkell, K. Petkov, and S. A. Vickerstaff
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289791
- eISBN:
- 9780191684760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289791.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, International Business
This volume addresses the questions of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations thematically. A key focus of this volume is processes of change at enterprise level. The ...
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This volume addresses the questions of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations thematically. A key focus of this volume is processes of change at enterprise level. The enterprise was a key institution of the previous system of economic and political regulation and thus constitutes a very specific legacy. This opening chapter has three main functions. It begins by considering briefly how labour relations were viewed under the command system and introduces the concept of legacy which is used throughout the book. Secondly, it locates the discussion in the context of existing comparative labour or industrial-relations research. Thirdly, it establishes the structure for the discussion in the following chapters.Less
This volume addresses the questions of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations thematically. A key focus of this volume is processes of change at enterprise level. The enterprise was a key institution of the previous system of economic and political regulation and thus constitutes a very specific legacy. This opening chapter has three main functions. It begins by considering briefly how labour relations were viewed under the command system and introduces the concept of legacy which is used throughout the book. Secondly, it locates the discussion in the context of existing comparative labour or industrial-relations research. Thirdly, it establishes the structure for the discussion in the following chapters.
J. E. M. Thirkell, K. Petkov, and S. A. Vickerstaff
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289791
- eISBN:
- 9780191684760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289791.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, International Business
The aim of this chapter is to examine the impact of foreign ownership on labour relations. This chapter is based on five cases. The first, Slovcar, from Slovakia, shows how foreign management was ...
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The aim of this chapter is to examine the impact of foreign ownership on labour relations. This chapter is based on five cases. The first, Slovcar, from Slovakia, shows how foreign management was able to introduce managerial practices for restructuring the organization of work which it had not yet tried in its domestic plants whilst retaining the indigenous representational structures. This is followed by the cases of the Hungarian Promed and the Bulgarian Foundry. These are treated as a pair, linked by the fact that a period of joint ownership led to conflicts between the internal and external partners, the termination of the joint venture, and reversion to indigenous ownership. Finally, Hungair and Bosair are considered as a matched pair, distinguished principally by the fact that so far only the first of these has experienced foreign ownership and privatization, whereas in the latter, privatization has been repeatedly deferred. This permits comparison in terms of changes in the development of labour relations in the two cases on the basis of the factual and the counterfactual.Less
The aim of this chapter is to examine the impact of foreign ownership on labour relations. This chapter is based on five cases. The first, Slovcar, from Slovakia, shows how foreign management was able to introduce managerial practices for restructuring the organization of work which it had not yet tried in its domestic plants whilst retaining the indigenous representational structures. This is followed by the cases of the Hungarian Promed and the Bulgarian Foundry. These are treated as a pair, linked by the fact that a period of joint ownership led to conflicts between the internal and external partners, the termination of the joint venture, and reversion to indigenous ownership. Finally, Hungair and Bosair are considered as a matched pair, distinguished principally by the fact that so far only the first of these has experienced foreign ownership and privatization, whereas in the latter, privatization has been repeatedly deferred. This permits comparison in terms of changes in the development of labour relations in the two cases on the basis of the factual and the counterfactual.
Franz Traxler, Sabine Blaschke, and Bernhard Kittel
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198295549
- eISBN:
- 9780191685132
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198295549.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Political Economy
This chapter draws attention to the outline of the study. It points out that divergent theories on the development and performance of institutions are grounded on the differences in the assumptions ...
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This chapter draws attention to the outline of the study. It points out that divergent theories on the development and performance of institutions are grounded on the differences in the assumptions about market operations. By analysing a cross-national long-term study of twenty countries under the OECD, this study attempts to answer whether internationalized markets brought about a general pattern of labour relations. Since institutionalism, class theory, and rational choice theory make up the analytical framework for this study, the various aspects of labour relations that should be concentrated on are able to be identified. The chapter presents three structural properties of organizations of interest and the bargaining system since these serve as the central institutional arrangement in labour relations. The study divides the three decades involved in the study into subperiods so that the chapter is able to observe the developments in the said periods.Less
This chapter draws attention to the outline of the study. It points out that divergent theories on the development and performance of institutions are grounded on the differences in the assumptions about market operations. By analysing a cross-national long-term study of twenty countries under the OECD, this study attempts to answer whether internationalized markets brought about a general pattern of labour relations. Since institutionalism, class theory, and rational choice theory make up the analytical framework for this study, the various aspects of labour relations that should be concentrated on are able to be identified. The chapter presents three structural properties of organizations of interest and the bargaining system since these serve as the central institutional arrangement in labour relations. The study divides the three decades involved in the study into subperiods so that the chapter is able to observe the developments in the said periods.
Marshall Ganz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162011
- eISBN:
- 9780199943401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162011.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
By 1977 the United Farm Workers (UFW) had successfully negotiated more than 100 union contracts, recruited a dues-paying membership of more than 50,000, and secured enactment of the California ...
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By 1977 the United Farm Workers (UFW) had successfully negotiated more than 100 union contracts, recruited a dues-paying membership of more than 50,000, and secured enactment of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the only legislative guarantee of farm workers' collective bargaining rights in the continental United States. Why did the UFW succeed at such a daunting task—a task at which other far more powerful organizations had repeatedly failed? This book argues that the UFW succeeded, while the rival AFL-CIO and Teamsters failed, because the UFW's leadership devised a more effective strategy, in fact a stream of effective strategies. The UFW was able to do this because the motivation of its leaders was greater than that of their rivals; they had better access to salient knowledge; and their deliberations became venues for learning. The three elements of strategic capacity—the ability to devise good strategy—are discussed.Less
By 1977 the United Farm Workers (UFW) had successfully negotiated more than 100 union contracts, recruited a dues-paying membership of more than 50,000, and secured enactment of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the only legislative guarantee of farm workers' collective bargaining rights in the continental United States. Why did the UFW succeed at such a daunting task—a task at which other far more powerful organizations had repeatedly failed? This book argues that the UFW succeeded, while the rival AFL-CIO and Teamsters failed, because the UFW's leadership devised a more effective strategy, in fact a stream of effective strategies. The UFW was able to do this because the motivation of its leaders was greater than that of their rivals; they had better access to salient knowledge; and their deliberations became venues for learning. The three elements of strategic capacity—the ability to devise good strategy—are discussed.
J. E. M. Thirkell, K. Petkov, and S. A. Vickerstaff
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289791
- eISBN:
- 9780191684760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289791.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, International Business
This chapter concludes the exploration of the nature of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations. It combines an assessment of the processes of transference, imitation, ...
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This chapter concludes the exploration of the nature of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations. It combines an assessment of the processes of transference, imitation, and imposition which have accompanied the transformation of labour relations in the countries under consideration with an evaluation of the strategies of the principal agents. The impact of legacies from the previous regimes is examined at the levels of power, authority, institutions, behaviour and beliefs. The discussion is drawn together by assessing, in the light of these considerations, the extent of institutionalization of new labour relations models and whether the countries have begun to move in the directions of Western-style labour relations.Less
This chapter concludes the exploration of the nature of change and development in Eastern European and Russian labour relations. It combines an assessment of the processes of transference, imitation, and imposition which have accompanied the transformation of labour relations in the countries under consideration with an evaluation of the strategies of the principal agents. The impact of legacies from the previous regimes is examined at the levels of power, authority, institutions, behaviour and beliefs. The discussion is drawn together by assessing, in the light of these considerations, the extent of institutionalization of new labour relations models and whether the countries have begun to move in the directions of Western-style labour relations.
Conan Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198208006
- eISBN:
- 9780191716607
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208006.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book analyses the post-1919 collapse in Franco–German relations, which culminated in 1923 with a Franco–Belgian occupation of Germany's heavy-industrial heartland, the Ruhr District. Germany was ...
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This book analyses the post-1919 collapse in Franco–German relations, which culminated in 1923 with a Franco–Belgian occupation of Germany's heavy-industrial heartland, the Ruhr District. Germany was in technical default of reparations deliveries including coal, coke, and timber and the French Premier, Poincaré, insisted that the occupation sought to secure these assets. German opinion, however, believed that beyond the reparations France was seeking to trigger the break-up of Germany, a belief recently vindicated by leading French historians. The people of the Ruhr rallied to defend their region and country in a grass-roots campaign of passive resistance against the occupying forces, with legal and financial support from Berlin. This book analyses the contours of this struggle which pitted mass civil disobedience against a heavily militarised occupation force. The Franco–Belgian authorities struggled to secure reparations deliveries and assert de facto sovereignty over the Ruhr and neighbouring Rhineland as railwaymen, coal miners, and public officials obstructed them at every turn. This triggered draconian sanctions against the region and sometimes the collective punishment of entire communities. This ‘Battle of the Ruhr’ involved the women and even children of the region as much as the male workforce. Famine, violence, and even sexual abuse came to characterise everyday life. The costs of underwriting this struggle were ruinous for the German exchequer. Hyperinflation rendered the currency worthless, labour relations collapsed, and western Germany was swept by a wave of French-supported separatist risings. Only international mediation (the Dawes Plan) finally resolved the crisis and ushered in a period of Franco–German reconciliation.Less
This book analyses the post-1919 collapse in Franco–German relations, which culminated in 1923 with a Franco–Belgian occupation of Germany's heavy-industrial heartland, the Ruhr District. Germany was in technical default of reparations deliveries including coal, coke, and timber and the French Premier, Poincaré, insisted that the occupation sought to secure these assets. German opinion, however, believed that beyond the reparations France was seeking to trigger the break-up of Germany, a belief recently vindicated by leading French historians. The people of the Ruhr rallied to defend their region and country in a grass-roots campaign of passive resistance against the occupying forces, with legal and financial support from Berlin. This book analyses the contours of this struggle which pitted mass civil disobedience against a heavily militarised occupation force. The Franco–Belgian authorities struggled to secure reparations deliveries and assert de facto sovereignty over the Ruhr and neighbouring Rhineland as railwaymen, coal miners, and public officials obstructed them at every turn. This triggered draconian sanctions against the region and sometimes the collective punishment of entire communities. This ‘Battle of the Ruhr’ involved the women and even children of the region as much as the male workforce. Famine, violence, and even sexual abuse came to characterise everyday life. The costs of underwriting this struggle were ruinous for the German exchequer. Hyperinflation rendered the currency worthless, labour relations collapsed, and western Germany was swept by a wave of French-supported separatist risings. Only international mediation (the Dawes Plan) finally resolved the crisis and ushered in a period of Franco–German reconciliation.
Franz Traxler, Sabine Blaschke, and Bernhard Kittel
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198295549
- eISBN:
- 9780191685132
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198295549.003.0013
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Political Economy
In analysing the impact of labour relations, particularly on issues regarding efficiency, employment, inflation, and economic growth need to be considered. This approach however does not take the ...
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In analysing the impact of labour relations, particularly on issues regarding efficiency, employment, inflation, and economic growth need to be considered. This approach however does not take the dual-link causality of the possible effects of labour relations on performance into account. The first chain in this dual-link considers how differences in the degrees of organization have corresponding differences in the ability to associate labour costs with economic requirements. The second chain, coming from mainstream economics, asserts how ‘excessive’ increases in wages result in a decrease in performance levels. Aside from using ‘technical’ controls to see effects exclusive to certain periods, four control variables — the monetary regime, trade-offs between employment and wages, the increasing exposure to competition in the world market, and real output growth — can be observed in testing the impact of labour relations on labour costs.Less
In analysing the impact of labour relations, particularly on issues regarding efficiency, employment, inflation, and economic growth need to be considered. This approach however does not take the dual-link causality of the possible effects of labour relations on performance into account. The first chain in this dual-link considers how differences in the degrees of organization have corresponding differences in the ability to associate labour costs with economic requirements. The second chain, coming from mainstream economics, asserts how ‘excessive’ increases in wages result in a decrease in performance levels. Aside from using ‘technical’ controls to see effects exclusive to certain periods, four control variables — the monetary regime, trade-offs between employment and wages, the increasing exposure to competition in the world market, and real output growth — can be observed in testing the impact of labour relations on labour costs.
