This book examines the legacy of economic and political aims and objectives formulated by the British government during, and immediately after the second world war. It examines contemporary patterns of regulation by the state, and reform in the industrial relations system as factors of these historically embedded influences. This book makes an important contribution to the history and theory of British post-war economics.
The Role of the State and Industrial Relations Edited by Adalberto Perulli & Tiziano Treu The new era of industrial relations that has been stealthily changing the world of work in recent decades seems to have reached a stage where it can be systematically monitored and analyzed, in great part because the “creeping renationalization” that has been noted since the financial crisis of 2008 has reinvigorated state intervention in essential economic structures. The contributions in this unrivalled book provide important new perspectives on the many challenges inherent in the present and future of the relationship between industrial relations and the state. Analyzing industrial relations systems from international, supranational, European and national points of view—and with an interdisciplinary approach connecting labour law, commercial law, corporate governance and international law—this one-of-kind book examines such salient aspects of the subject as the following: cooperative versus conflictual industrial relations systems; phenomenon of constitutionalization of power by multinational enterprises; competitive, illiberal and protectionist patterns of state regulation; freedom of association and industrial relations; potential power of transnational collective bargaining; impact of worktime arrangements; role of European Works Councils; exemplary value of the German system of workers’ participation; and global framework agreements. Using a comparative approach (the European Union, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, the United States, Brazil, South Africa, India), the book reconstructs the general framework of global industrial relations, considering challenges and future prospects and proposing a new agenda for the state. Contributors include widely renowned professors of labour, commercial and international law, as well as experts from the International Labour Organization and the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law. The debate about industrial relations and the state in our globalized world is of major concern for practitioners in governments, companies, employers’ associations and trade unions, as well as for company managers, entrepreneurs, consultants, judges, human rights lawyers and academics interested in labour, industrial relations and social rights in European and international contexts.
This book is about the relationship between corporate governance regimes and labour management. It examines how finance and governance influence employment relationships, work organization, and industrial relations by means of a comparative analysis of Anglo-American, European, and Japanese economies. The starting point is the distinction widely found in the corporate governance, business systems, and political economy literature between countries dominated by 'shareholder value' conceptions of corporate governance and those characterized by 'stakeholder' regimes. By drawing on a wide range of countries, the book is able to demonstrate the complexities of corporate governance arrangements and to present a more precise and nuanced exploration of the linkages between governance and labour management. Each country-based chapter provides an analysis of the evolution and key characteristics of corporate governance and then links this to labour management institutions and practices. The chapters cover the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain, with each written by a leading academic expert in the field. By providing a historical review of the evolution of national systems, the contributors provide judicious evaluations of the current state and future direction of national governance and labour relations systems. Overall, the book goes beyond the 'complementarities' between governance and labour management systems identified in recent literature, and attempts to identify causal relationships between the two. It shows how labour management institutions and practices may influence finance and corporate governance systems, as well as vice versa The contributions to this book illuminate current debates about the determinants of corporate governance, the convergence of national 'varieties of capitalism', and the impact of corporate governance on managerial behaviour. The book highlights the complexities of corporate governance systems and refines the distinction between market/outsider and relational/insider systems.
Global pressures present similar challenges to companies in different countries, but how those organizations deal with them depends on the social and institutional framework in which they develop and operate. In this book, leading academics explore and explain variations in governance systems, focusing in particular on European trends. In Governance at Work: The Social Regulation of Economic Relations the authors ask: · Are structures of work and business organization changing? Are we seeing a move away from large-scale (Fordist) mass-production systems that have dominated the industrialized world in the 20th century? · What are the local/national determinants of business organization? · Can we speak of different national business systems if so, how do these interact with the operations of international companies in global competition?
It cannot be denied that in recent decades, for many if not most people, work has become unstable and insecure, with serious risk and few benefits for workers. As this reality spills over into political and social life, it is crucial to interrogate the transformations affecting employment relations, shape research agendas, and influence the policies of national and international institutions. This single volume brings together thirty-nine scholars (both academics and experienced industrial relations actors) in the fields of employment relations and labour law in a forthright discussion of new approaches, theories, and methods aimed at ameliorating the world of work. Focusing on why and how work is changing, how collective actors deal with it, and the future of work from different disciplinary angles and at an international level, the contributors describe and analyse such issues and topics as the following: new forms of social protection and representation; differences in the power relations of workers and political dynamics; balancing protection of workers’ dignity and promotion of productivity; intersection of information technology and workplace regulation; how the gig economy undermines legal protections; role of professional and trade associations; workplace conflict management; lay judges in labour courts; undeclared work in the informal sector of the labour market; work incapacity and disability; (in)coherence of the work-related case law of the European Court of Justice; and business restructurings. Derived from a major conference held in Leuven in September 2018, the book offers an in-depth understanding of the changing world of work, its main transformations, and the challenges posed to classical employment relations theories and methods as well as to labour law. With its wide range of insights, analysis, and reflection, this unique contribution to the study of industrial relations offers an authoritative reference guide to scholars, policymakers, trade unions and business associations, human resources professionals, and practitioners who need to deal with the future of work challenges.
We live in a 'corporate world' in which powerful business corporations shape and influence the activities of nation states, their national economies and their social relations. But what is it that moulds the activities of the corporations themselves? Do some societies have 'styles' of regulation that enable corporations to operate freely in the pursuit of certain interests, where others are more constrained? And, if so, are Australian companies more inclined to pursue the financial interests of shareholders and owners at the expense of employees and creditors? Corporate governance may be guided in the pursuit of particular interests by many influences, including law, politics, capital and labour and other pressure groups. How these competing pressures balance out varies enormously from state to state. Bringing together the original research by lawyers, political economists and industrial relations scholars, Varieties of Capitalism, Corporate Governance and Employees is a first Australian contribution to these complex issues.
This volume brings together well-known scholars from a wide range of disciplines to provide a superb analytical and historical overview of how state policy has affected established economic and labour market systems in France and Britain. The contributors to this book explore some crucial questions: * how 'dirigiste' was the French state in reality * why was state intervention more acceptable in France than in Britain * how do the differences in state intervention help to explain the respective economic performances of the two countries since the second world war? The book draws on hitherto unpublished primary research by scholars in economic and social history, industrial relations, economics, law, political science, sociology and social policy. As such, it is a timely and welcome intervention into debates concerning the politics of modern labour markets specifically and the role of the state in economic modernization more widely. It will have strong appeal to researchers and students in several discplines.
