Georg Menz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199533886
- eISBN:
- 9780191714771
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533886.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
European governments have rediscovered labor migration, but are eager to be perceived as controlling unsolicited forms of migration, especially through asylum and family reunion. The emerging ...
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European governments have rediscovered labor migration, but are eager to be perceived as controlling unsolicited forms of migration, especially through asylum and family reunion. The emerging paradigm of managed migration combines the construction of more permissive channels for desirable and actively recruited labor migrants with ever more restrictive approaches towards asylum seekers. Nonstate actors, especially employer organizations, trade unions, and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations, attempt to shape regulatory measures, but their success varies depending on organizational characteristics. Labor market interest associations' lobbying strategies regarding quantities and skill profile of labor migrants will be influenced by the respective system of political economy they are embedded in. Trade unions are generally supportive of well-managed labor recruitment strategies. But migration policymaking also proceeds at the European Union (EU) level. While national actors seek to upload their national model as a blueprint for future EU policy to avoid costly adaptation, top-down Europeanization is recasting national regulation in important ways, notwithstanding highly divergent national regulatory philosophies. Based on field work in and analysis of primary documents from six European countries (France, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Poland), this book makes an important contribution to the study of a rapidly Europeanized policy domain. Combining insights from the literature on comparative political economy, Europeanization, and migration studies, this book makes important contributions to all three, while demonstrating how migration policy can be fruitfully studied by employing tools from mainstream political science, rather than treating it as a distinct subfield.Less
European governments have rediscovered labor migration, but are eager to be perceived as controlling unsolicited forms of migration, especially through asylum and family reunion. The emerging paradigm of managed migration combines the construction of more permissive channels for desirable and actively recruited labor migrants with ever more restrictive approaches towards asylum seekers. Nonstate actors, especially employer organizations, trade unions, and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations, attempt to shape regulatory measures, but their success varies depending on organizational characteristics. Labor market interest associations' lobbying strategies regarding quantities and skill profile of labor migrants will be influenced by the respective system of political economy they are embedded in. Trade unions are generally supportive of well-managed labor recruitment strategies. But migration policymaking also proceeds at the European Union (EU) level. While national actors seek to upload their national model as a blueprint for future EU policy to avoid costly adaptation, top-down Europeanization is recasting national regulation in important ways, notwithstanding highly divergent national regulatory philosophies. Based on field work in and analysis of primary documents from six European countries (France, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Poland), this book makes an important contribution to the study of a rapidly Europeanized policy domain. Combining insights from the literature on comparative political economy, Europeanization, and migration studies, this book makes important contributions to all three, while demonstrating how migration policy can be fruitfully studied by employing tools from mainstream political science, rather than treating it as a distinct subfield.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279747
- eISBN:
- 9780191599019
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279744.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
For more than a century of development, the industrial relations systems of Western European countries grew in very diverse and changing ways. The forms they adopted can be mapped against a set of ...
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For more than a century of development, the industrial relations systems of Western European countries grew in very diverse and changing ways. The forms they adopted can be mapped against a set of basic types, and this study moves between historical detail and theoretical typology in order to capture the complexity of that mapping. The book traces the development of trade unions, organized employers, the state's role, and patterns of industrial conflict in 15 countries. It concludes by linking contemporary industrial relations systems to a longue durŽe of relations between states and societies reaching back to the Reformation.Less
For more than a century of development, the industrial relations systems of Western European countries grew in very diverse and changing ways. The forms they adopted can be mapped against a set of basic types, and this study moves between historical detail and theoretical typology in order to capture the complexity of that mapping. The book traces the development of trade unions, organized employers, the state's role, and patterns of industrial conflict in 15 countries. It concludes by linking contemporary industrial relations systems to a longue durŽe of relations between states and societies reaching back to the Reformation.
Roger Undy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199544943
- eISBN:
- 9780191719936
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199544943.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR
This empirical study of British trade union mergers examines the causes of mergers; the search for merger partners; merger negotiations; and merger outcomes. These developments are set within the ...
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This empirical study of British trade union mergers examines the causes of mergers; the search for merger partners; merger negotiations; and merger outcomes. These developments are set within the context of declining union membership and an associated loss of unions' political and economic influence. The contribution that union mergers can make to union performance and union revitalization is assessed by reference to changes in merged unions' job territories, political objectives and means, democratic ethos and government, administration, and union leaders' imperatives. The choice of merger process, either a transfer or an amalgamation, is found to be an important factor influencing the reforms which merged unions can subsequently implement. Transfers, which are far more numerous than amalgamations, tend to provide the minor transferring union with significant gains, but offer little opportunity to transform the performance of the major partner. Amalgamations have a greater transforming potential for all partner unions. However, this transforming potential is difficult to achieve in practice. Many amalgamated unions experience financial and political difficulties post-merger, which can take several years to resolve. As for the wider trade union movement, the contribution of union mergers to its revitalization is both incidental and problematic.Less
This empirical study of British trade union mergers examines the causes of mergers; the search for merger partners; merger negotiations; and merger outcomes. These developments are set within the context of declining union membership and an associated loss of unions' political and economic influence. The contribution that union mergers can make to union performance and union revitalization is assessed by reference to changes in merged unions' job territories, political objectives and means, democratic ethos and government, administration, and union leaders' imperatives. The choice of merger process, either a transfer or an amalgamation, is found to be an important factor influencing the reforms which merged unions can subsequently implement. Transfers, which are far more numerous than amalgamations, tend to provide the minor transferring union with significant gains, but offer little opportunity to transform the performance of the major partner. Amalgamations have a greater transforming potential for all partner unions. However, this transforming potential is difficult to achieve in practice. Many amalgamated unions experience financial and political difficulties post-merger, which can take several years to resolve. As for the wider trade union movement, the contribution of union mergers to its revitalization is both incidental and problematic.
Christopher Candland
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
In India, an impressive labour movement based on political unionism developed and exercised some influence over economic policy. In Pakistan, an assertive and often militant workers’ movement ...
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In India, an impressive labour movement based on political unionism developed and exercised some influence over economic policy. In Pakistan, an assertive and often militant workers’ movement emerged, was severely repressed, and exercised little influence over economic policy. The paper assesses the ability of trade unions in each country to oppose recent economic reforms, specifically the privatization efforts of each government. The capacity to oppose industrial restructuring is traced to the differing structure of labour institutions, specifically trade union relationships with political parties and workers’ representation in trade unions. In conclusion, the paper draws from a debate within the Indian trade union movement concerning the limitations of political unionism and the need for new union strategies. It suggests that a new unionism, with wider networks among other social organizations and deeper roots in local communities, must also include a new political dimension.Less
In India, an impressive labour movement based on political unionism developed and exercised some influence over economic policy. In Pakistan, an assertive and often militant workers’ movement emerged, was severely repressed, and exercised little influence over economic policy. The paper assesses the ability of trade unions in each country to oppose recent economic reforms, specifically the privatization efforts of each government. The capacity to oppose industrial restructuring is traced to the differing structure of labour institutions, specifically trade union relationships with political parties and workers’ representation in trade unions. In conclusion, the paper draws from a debate within the Indian trade union movement concerning the limitations of political unionism and the need for new union strategies. It suggests that a new unionism, with wider networks among other social organizations and deeper roots in local communities, must also include a new political dimension.
Jack Hayward
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199216314
- eISBN:
- 9780191712265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216314.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The slow motion retreat from peasant and artisan ruralism underpinned an institutional immobilism mastered by a new professional political class of meritocratic barristers and businessmen. ...
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The slow motion retreat from peasant and artisan ruralism underpinned an institutional immobilism mastered by a new professional political class of meritocratic barristers and businessmen. Politicized industrial relations and prominence of anarcho-syndicalist militancy in the weak trade unions led to general strikes becoming a mobilizing myth. Anticlericalism pursued the separation of Church and State, while anti-Semitism exploded in the Dreyfus Affair.Less
The slow motion retreat from peasant and artisan ruralism underpinned an institutional immobilism mastered by a new professional political class of meritocratic barristers and businessmen. Politicized industrial relations and prominence of anarcho-syndicalist militancy in the weak trade unions led to general strikes becoming a mobilizing myth. Anticlericalism pursued the separation of Church and State, while anti-Semitism exploded in the Dreyfus Affair.
Mitchell A. Orenstein and Lisa E. Hale
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
While global trends have forced labour into retreat in most countries, in post‐communist Europe, the dramatic opening to world markets in 1989 was achieved through a political breakthrough in which ...
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While global trends have forced labour into retreat in most countries, in post‐communist Europe, the dramatic opening to world markets in 1989 was achieved through a political breakthrough in which organized labour played a major role. Whereas trade unions under communism acted as ‘transmission belts to the working class for state policy and ideology, post‐communist governments needed to develop new roles for resurgent trade unions in a democratic society. In Poland, the post‐communist government juggled a number of different objectives in the reformation of labour market institutions. On the one hand, democratic consolidation demanded that trade unions be constituted as independent social and political forces that would support the new regime. On the other hand, liberalization demanded that trade unions moderate their wage demands so as not to foster runaway inflation. In addition, since trade unions remained the only major civil society organization with significant roots in the working class, trade unions immediately became important partners in any new political coalition. Corporatism, as advocated by the International Labour Organization office in the region, provided a compelling answer to many of these demands. This chapter argues that in Poland, the need to institutionalize a role for trade unions in the emerging democratic society led to a genuinely corporatist forum for indicative negotiation over wages, and the development of progressive social policy. Popular disillusion with structural economic reforms led to corporatist ‘pacts’ negotiated, first, by Solidarity leaders, and then, by the former communists who came to power in 1993. Finally, in 1995, to initiate a Polish tripartite council for social bargaining, using a comparison between Poland and the Czech Republic, the chapter concludes that globalization has strengthened trade unions and the pressures for including them in new forms of corporatist intermediation in post‐communist Europe. While these institutions suffer many of the same problems evident in the developed West, corporatism has become part of the institutional framework of post‐communism and appears to be here to stay.Less
While global trends have forced labour into retreat in most countries, in post‐communist Europe, the dramatic opening to world markets in 1989 was achieved through a political breakthrough in which organized labour played a major role. Whereas trade unions under communism acted as ‘transmission belts to the working class for state policy and ideology, post‐communist governments needed to develop new roles for resurgent trade unions in a democratic society. In Poland, the post‐communist government juggled a number of different objectives in the reformation of labour market institutions. On the one hand, democratic consolidation demanded that trade unions be constituted as independent social and political forces that would support the new regime. On the other hand, liberalization demanded that trade unions moderate their wage demands so as not to foster runaway inflation. In addition, since trade unions remained the only major civil society organization with significant roots in the working class, trade unions immediately became important partners in any new political coalition. Corporatism, as advocated by the International Labour Organization office in the region, provided a compelling answer to many of these demands. This chapter argues that in Poland, the need to institutionalize a role for trade unions in the emerging democratic society led to a genuinely corporatist forum for indicative negotiation over wages, and the development of progressive social policy. Popular disillusion with structural economic reforms led to corporatist ‘pacts’ negotiated, first, by Solidarity leaders, and then, by the former communists who came to power in 1993. Finally, in 1995, to initiate a Polish tripartite council for social bargaining, using a comparison between Poland and the Czech Republic, the chapter concludes that globalization has strengthened trade unions and the pressures for including them in new forms of corporatist intermediation in post‐communist Europe. While these institutions suffer many of the same problems evident in the developed West, corporatism has become part of the institutional framework of post‐communism and appears to be here to stay.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279747
- eISBN:
- 9780191599019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279744.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around ...
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Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1870, 1900, and 1914. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict, and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.Less
Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1870, 1900, and 1914. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict, and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279747
- eISBN:
- 9780191599019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279744.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1975 ...
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Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1975 and 1990. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.Less
Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1975 and 1990. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.
William Cornish
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199239757
- eISBN:
- 9780191705151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239757.003.0022
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter on law and organized labour begins with a discussion of political concession and constraints on labour. It then discusses trade union legislation in the wake of the Royal Commission, ...
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This chapter on law and organized labour begins with a discussion of political concession and constraints on labour. It then discusses trade union legislation in the wake of the Royal Commission, collective bargaining as the aim of labour relations, employment without criminal sanctions, the politics of employment in the 1890s, governance within unions, and legislative support for better conditions.Less
This chapter on law and organized labour begins with a discussion of political concession and constraints on labour. It then discusses trade union legislation in the wake of the Royal Commission, collective bargaining as the aim of labour relations, employment without criminal sanctions, the politics of employment in the 1890s, governance within unions, and legislative support for better conditions.
Herbert Marcuse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691134130
- eISBN:
- 9781400846467
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691134130.003.0031
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter evaluates the status and prospects of trade unions and works councils in Nazi Germany. The report details that the German trade-union movement has developed in a different direction from ...
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This chapter evaluates the status and prospects of trade unions and works councils in Nazi Germany. The report details that the German trade-union movement has developed in a different direction from American unionism. The German unions were affiliated with political parties: the Free Trade-Unions with the Social Democratic Party; the Christian-National Trade-Unions with the Center Party and the German National People's Party; and the German Trade Associations (Hirsch-Duncker) with the Democratic Party. The chapter first provides an overview of trade unionism in Germany prior to Adolf Hitler's ascension to power before discussing the spontaneous revival of trade unionism after the collapse of the Nazi regime. It then considers trade-union development in the Allied zones of occupation and in the Soviet zone of occupation, along with the revival of the works councils or shop stewards movement. It also addresses the question of the “political neutrality” of the trade-union movement.Less
This chapter evaluates the status and prospects of trade unions and works councils in Nazi Germany. The report details that the German trade-union movement has developed in a different direction from American unionism. The German unions were affiliated with political parties: the Free Trade-Unions with the Social Democratic Party; the Christian-National Trade-Unions with the Center Party and the German National People's Party; and the German Trade Associations (Hirsch-Duncker) with the Democratic Party. The chapter first provides an overview of trade unionism in Germany prior to Adolf Hitler's ascension to power before discussing the spontaneous revival of trade unionism after the collapse of the Nazi regime. It then considers trade-union development in the Allied zones of occupation and in the Soviet zone of occupation, along with the revival of the works councils or shop stewards movement. It also addresses the question of the “political neutrality” of the trade-union movement.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279747
- eISBN:
- 9780191599019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279744.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1950 ...
More
Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1950 and 1962. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.Less
Changes in relations between states, organized employers and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1950 and 1962. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.
Bernhard Ebbinghaus
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286119
- eISBN:
- 9780191604089
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286116.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using ...
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The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using early exit? Beyond the workplace, interest coalitions may arise among governments, employer associations, and trade unions to externalize restructuration costs, reduce labor supply, and buy social peace.Less
The chapter discusses how the state, employers, and organized labor promote and reform early retirement policies. What interests do workers, employers, and workplace representatives have in using early exit? Beyond the workplace, interest coalitions may arise among governments, employer associations, and trade unions to externalize restructuration costs, reduce labor supply, and buy social peace.
Eileen M. Doherty
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
During the post‐war period, Irish labour unions have been characterized by fragmentation at the local level (with multiple unions competing for members, industrial unrest at the local level, and ...
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During the post‐war period, Irish labour unions have been characterized by fragmentation at the local level (with multiple unions competing for members, industrial unrest at the local level, and tensions between unions), but centralization at the national level. Labour unions have been clustered into large umbrella organizations, and the country has had a strong history of corporatism in industrial relations. The three stages of “globalization” in Ireland—the decision to embrace an open economic policy in the 1950s, Ireland's 1973 entry into the EEC, and the deepening of European integration in the 1980s and 1990s—have generated continuous pressures on Ireland to embrace new strategies to accommodate the pressures of market forces. Ireland's response to ‘globalization’ has not involved a disintegration of corporatist bargains or the weakening of unions, but rather a renewed focus on social partnership and consensus policy making in which unions have played a distinct role. The result of this social partnership has been impressive growth rates since 1987, but a lingering problem of structural unemployment. To address this issue, Dublin has committed itself to the continuation and strengthening of corporatist bargaining, but with an increased emphasis on addressing the problem of social exclusion. It remains to be seen whether social partnership mechanisms can effectively address the problems associated with long‐term unemployment and social exclusion, or whether Ireland is evolving toward a bifurcated economy, characterized by expanding jobs for skilled workers, but declining prospects for less‐educated workers.Less
During the post‐war period, Irish labour unions have been characterized by fragmentation at the local level (with multiple unions competing for members, industrial unrest at the local level, and tensions between unions), but centralization at the national level. Labour unions have been clustered into large umbrella organizations, and the country has had a strong history of corporatism in industrial relations. The three stages of “globalization” in Ireland—the decision to embrace an open economic policy in the 1950s, Ireland's 1973 entry into the EEC, and the deepening of European integration in the 1980s and 1990s—have generated continuous pressures on Ireland to embrace new strategies to accommodate the pressures of market forces. Ireland's response to ‘globalization’ has not involved a disintegration of corporatist bargains or the weakening of unions, but rather a renewed focus on social partnership and consensus policy making in which unions have played a distinct role. The result of this social partnership has been impressive growth rates since 1987, but a lingering problem of structural unemployment. To address this issue, Dublin has committed itself to the continuation and strengthening of corporatist bargaining, but with an increased emphasis on addressing the problem of social exclusion. It remains to be seen whether social partnership mechanisms can effectively address the problems associated with long‐term unemployment and social exclusion, or whether Ireland is evolving toward a bifurcated economy, characterized by expanding jobs for skilled workers, but declining prospects for less‐educated workers.
Colin Crouch
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279747
- eISBN:
- 9780191599019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279744.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around ...
More
Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1925 and 1938. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.Less
Changes in relations between states, organized employers, and trade unions in western European countries are tracked through a series of 'snapshots’, concentrating on the situation reached around 1925 and 1938. At each moment there is a review, partly quantitative, of the position of trade union and employer organization, the role of the state, industrial conflict and the development of relations among the partners. These data are used to map national cases against the theoretical scheme developed in Part I.
Bernhard Ebbinghaus
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286119
- eISBN:
- 9780191604089
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286116.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Since the 1970s, early exit from work has become a major challenge in modern welfare states. Governments, employers, and unions alike once thought of early retirement as a peaceful solution to the ...
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Since the 1970s, early exit from work has become a major challenge in modern welfare states. Governments, employers, and unions alike once thought of early retirement as a peaceful solution to the economic problems of mass unemployment and industrial restructuring. Today, governments and international organizations advocate the postponement of retirement and an increase in activity among older workers. Comparing eight European countries, the USA, and Japan, this book demonstrates significant cross-national differences in early retirement across countries and over time. The study evaluates the impact of major variations in welfare regimes, production systems, and labor relations. It stresses the importance of the ‘pull factor’ of extensive welfare state provisions, particularly in Continental Europe; the ‘push factor’ of labor shedding strategies by firms, particularly in Anglo-American market economies; and the role of employers and worker representatives in negotiating retirement policies, particularly in coordinated market economies. Over the last three decades, early retirement has become a popular social policy and employment practice in the workplace, adding to the fiscal crises and employment problems of today’s welfare states. Attempts to reverse early retirement policies have led to major reform debates. Unilateral government policies to cut back on social benefits have not had the expected employment results due to resistance from employers, workers, and their organizations. Successful reforms require the cooperation of both sides. This study provides comprehensive empirical analyses and a balanced approach to both the pull and the push factors needed to understand the development of early retirement regimes.Less
Since the 1970s, early exit from work has become a major challenge in modern welfare states. Governments, employers, and unions alike once thought of early retirement as a peaceful solution to the economic problems of mass unemployment and industrial restructuring. Today, governments and international organizations advocate the postponement of retirement and an increase in activity among older workers. Comparing eight European countries, the USA, and Japan, this book demonstrates significant cross-national differences in early retirement across countries and over time. The study evaluates the impact of major variations in welfare regimes, production systems, and labor relations. It stresses the importance of the ‘pull factor’ of extensive welfare state provisions, particularly in Continental Europe; the ‘push factor’ of labor shedding strategies by firms, particularly in Anglo-American market economies; and the role of employers and worker representatives in negotiating retirement policies, particularly in coordinated market economies. Over the last three decades, early retirement has become a popular social policy and employment practice in the workplace, adding to the fiscal crises and employment problems of today’s welfare states. Attempts to reverse early retirement policies have led to major reform debates. Unilateral government policies to cut back on social benefits have not had the expected employment results due to resistance from employers, workers, and their organizations. Successful reforms require the cooperation of both sides. This study provides comprehensive empirical analyses and a balanced approach to both the pull and the push factors needed to understand the development of early retirement regimes.
Rudra Sil
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
While the attempt to integrate the Russian economy into global capitalism has produced several market‐oriented economic institutions that formally appear to converge with those in the advanced ...
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While the attempt to integrate the Russian economy into global capitalism has produced several market‐oriented economic institutions that formally appear to converge with those in the advanced industrial West, ‘globalization’ has had far less of an impact on the prevalent norms and attitudes of key economic factors at the local and regional level where many of the most successful enterprises are focusing their energies. This chapter may be summarized in terms of three tentative claims designed primarily to raise some questions concerning the prevailing assumptions concerning the nature and direction of the post‐Soviet transformation. First, the privatization program and other market‐oriented reforms under Yeltsin, while certainly ushering in a new set of institutions in the post‐Soviet era, do not represent a steady, unidirectional process of change leading towards the integration of Russia into the global economy and society. Second, the framework of ‘globalization’ works even less to capture the transformation of industrial relations in the post‐Soviet period, as evident in the failed attempt to develop a tripartite corporatist framework for bargaining on key issues, and in the increasing evidence of bilateral dealings and alliances between pro‐ and anti‐reform segments that cut across the business/labour divide and contact between government officials and the most influential trade unions and business associations across different regions. And finally, while the old system of industrial relations may not be much in evidence today, a substantial number of industrialists and Russian workers appear to be responding to the transformation of the post‐Soviet economy by focusing on regionally based, enterprise‐level survival strategies nested in informal ‘moral’ understandings that emerged in the context of enterprise paternalism in the Soviet era and that continue to survive within the context of new economic institutions.Less
While the attempt to integrate the Russian economy into global capitalism has produced several market‐oriented economic institutions that formally appear to converge with those in the advanced industrial West, ‘globalization’ has had far less of an impact on the prevalent norms and attitudes of key economic factors at the local and regional level where many of the most successful enterprises are focusing their energies. This chapter may be summarized in terms of three tentative claims designed primarily to raise some questions concerning the prevailing assumptions concerning the nature and direction of the post‐Soviet transformation. First, the privatization program and other market‐oriented reforms under Yeltsin, while certainly ushering in a new set of institutions in the post‐Soviet era, do not represent a steady, unidirectional process of change leading towards the integration of Russia into the global economy and society. Second, the framework of ‘globalization’ works even less to capture the transformation of industrial relations in the post‐Soviet period, as evident in the failed attempt to develop a tripartite corporatist framework for bargaining on key issues, and in the increasing evidence of bilateral dealings and alliances between pro‐ and anti‐reform segments that cut across the business/labour divide and contact between government officials and the most influential trade unions and business associations across different regions. And finally, while the old system of industrial relations may not be much in evidence today, a substantial number of industrialists and Russian workers appear to be responding to the transformation of the post‐Soviet economy by focusing on regionally based, enterprise‐level survival strategies nested in informal ‘moral’ understandings that emerged in the context of enterprise paternalism in the Soviet era and that continue to survive within the context of new economic institutions.
Carola M. Frege
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199208067
- eISBN:
- 9780191709159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208067.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR
This chapter examines the histories of the subject field, which originate in the beginnings of industrialization and democratization during the 19th century in each country. It argues that employment ...
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This chapter examines the histories of the subject field, which originate in the beginnings of industrialization and democratization during the 19th century in each country. It argues that employment research has been shaped by the development of its subject, employment institutions and regulations, and in particular by the different histories of trade unions in each country and their relationship to the state.Less
This chapter examines the histories of the subject field, which originate in the beginnings of industrialization and democratization during the 19th century in each country. It argues that employment research has been shaped by the development of its subject, employment institutions and regulations, and in particular by the different histories of trade unions in each country and their relationship to the state.
Charles Weathers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241149
- eISBN:
- 9780191598920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241147.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Contemporary Japan is perhaps the ultimate product of ‘globalization’ in many respects. Forcibly opened to the world by the Western powers in the 1850s, the country has since focused its energies on ...
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Contemporary Japan is perhaps the ultimate product of ‘globalization’ in many respects. Forcibly opened to the world by the Western powers in the 1850s, the country has since focused its energies on achieving the greatest possible level of economic development. As a result, the union movement historically has been divided between a right wing, which advocates full cooperation with management and a left wing demanding more resources for social needs and programs. While unions on the right have long dominated organized labour's agenda, even these unions agreed by the 1980s that the labour movement had done too little to improve working conditions and living standards. However, the early 1990s saw the onset of a severe recession and ‘globalization’ (alternatively, a new ‘era of super‐competition’), prompting both businesses and the right‐wing unions to seek comprehensive deregulation of employment systems, against the faltering opposition of the left. As Japan shifts from its ‘paradigm’ of an industrial relations rooted in mass production and ‘lifetime employment’ to a more flexible, high tech–based economy, unions are emphasizing new strategies for protecting jobs in their own industries, and the labour movement's influence over general working conditions has been further eroded. Post‐war Japan's second ‘paradigm shift’ suggests that there are important limits to convergence, as unions spurn the social provisions of the EC, and cooperate with business to nurture Asia as an allied production base for Japan. In addition, those who regarded the Japanese employment system during the 1970s and 1980s as a ‘model’ for organizing cooperative industrial relations in industrializing societies have to confront the fact that the model itself is now in flux.Less
Contemporary Japan is perhaps the ultimate product of ‘globalization’ in many respects. Forcibly opened to the world by the Western powers in the 1850s, the country has since focused its energies on achieving the greatest possible level of economic development. As a result, the union movement historically has been divided between a right wing, which advocates full cooperation with management and a left wing demanding more resources for social needs and programs. While unions on the right have long dominated organized labour's agenda, even these unions agreed by the 1980s that the labour movement had done too little to improve working conditions and living standards. However, the early 1990s saw the onset of a severe recession and ‘globalization’ (alternatively, a new ‘era of super‐competition’), prompting both businesses and the right‐wing unions to seek comprehensive deregulation of employment systems, against the faltering opposition of the left. As Japan shifts from its ‘paradigm’ of an industrial relations rooted in mass production and ‘lifetime employment’ to a more flexible, high tech–based economy, unions are emphasizing new strategies for protecting jobs in their own industries, and the labour movement's influence over general working conditions has been further eroded. Post‐war Japan's second ‘paradigm shift’ suggests that there are important limits to convergence, as unions spurn the social provisions of the EC, and cooperate with business to nurture Asia as an allied production base for Japan. In addition, those who regarded the Japanese employment system during the 1970s and 1980s as a ‘model’ for organizing cooperative industrial relations in industrializing societies have to confront the fact that the model itself is now in flux.
Mark Curthoys
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268894
- eISBN:
- 9780191708466
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268894.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It ...
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This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It traces the collapse, in the face of judicial interventions, of the regime for collective labour devised by the Liberal Tories in the 1820s, following the repeal of the Combination Acts. The new arrangements enacted in the 1870s allowed collective labour unparalleled freedoms, contended by the newly-founded Trades Union Congress. This book seeks to reinstate the view from government into an account of how the settlement was brought about, tracing the emergence of an official view — largely independent of external pressure — which favoured withdrawing the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations and allowing a virtually unrestricted freedom to combine. It reviews the impact upon the Home Office's specialist advisers of contemporary intellectual trends, such as the assaults upon classical and political economy and the historicised critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. The book offers an historical context for the major court decisions affecting the security of trade union funds, and the freedom to strike, while the views of the judges are integrated within the terms of a wider debate between proponents of contending views of ‘free trade’ and ‘free labour’. New evidence sheds light on the considerations which impelled governments to grant trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence, and to protect strikers from the criminal law.Less
This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It traces the collapse, in the face of judicial interventions, of the regime for collective labour devised by the Liberal Tories in the 1820s, following the repeal of the Combination Acts. The new arrangements enacted in the 1870s allowed collective labour unparalleled freedoms, contended by the newly-founded Trades Union Congress. This book seeks to reinstate the view from government into an account of how the settlement was brought about, tracing the emergence of an official view — largely independent of external pressure — which favoured withdrawing the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations and allowing a virtually unrestricted freedom to combine. It reviews the impact upon the Home Office's specialist advisers of contemporary intellectual trends, such as the assaults upon classical and political economy and the historicised critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. The book offers an historical context for the major court decisions affecting the security of trade union funds, and the freedom to strike, while the views of the judges are integrated within the terms of a wider debate between proponents of contending views of ‘free trade’ and ‘free labour’. New evidence sheds light on the considerations which impelled governments to grant trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence, and to protect strikers from the criminal law.
Jacques Mélitz
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271405
- eISBN:
- 9780191601200
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271402.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
This chapter reports on four basic results of tests of the standard gravity equation. First, geography can reflect comparative advantage as well as transportation cost. Second, the effect of distance ...
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This chapter reports on four basic results of tests of the standard gravity equation. First, geography can reflect comparative advantage as well as transportation cost. Second, the effect of distance on bilateral trade is mostly a substitution effect between closer and more distant trade partners rather than a scale effect on total foreign trade. Third, special political relationships, such as free trade agreements and currency union, do not produce any trade diversion in the aggregate, but increase trade with outsiders as well as among the parties to the relationship. Fourth, Rose’s surprisingly high estimate of the impact of currency union on trade stems partly from selection bias, but even following a correction for that bias, the estimate remains high.Less
This chapter reports on four basic results of tests of the standard gravity equation. First, geography can reflect comparative advantage as well as transportation cost. Second, the effect of distance on bilateral trade is mostly a substitution effect between closer and more distant trade partners rather than a scale effect on total foreign trade. Third, special political relationships, such as free trade agreements and currency union, do not produce any trade diversion in the aggregate, but increase trade with outsiders as well as among the parties to the relationship. Fourth, Rose’s surprisingly high estimate of the impact of currency union on trade stems partly from selection bias, but even following a correction for that bias, the estimate remains high.
