scholarly journals Some obstacles to wage-led growth

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. King
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Wage Share ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Ability And Willingness ◽  
The Welfare State

I begin by providing a non-technical summary of the Post-Keynesian model of wage-led growth. I then summarise the work of microeconomists and industrial relations researchers on the reasons why real wages have failed to keep pace with labour productivity, leading to a steady decline in the wage share of GDP. These include the decline of trade unions, the erosion of the welfare state and (especially) the increasing ability and willingness of employers to evade and avoid labour market regulation. I conclude that these microeconomic problems need to be solved for a macroeconomic strategy of wage-led growth to be possible.

The Economic Effects of Industrial Relations Legislation Since 1979

1990 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Brown ◽  
Sushil Wadhwani
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Actual Impact ◽  
Wage Effects

This is the fourth article from members of the CLARE Group to appear in the Review. Future articles will normally appear about twice a year. The Review is pleased to give hospitality to the deliberations of the CLARE Group but is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed. Members of the CLARE Group are M.J. Artis, A.J.C. Britton, W.A. Brown, C.H. Feinstein, C.A.E. Goodhart, D.A. Hay, J.A. Kay, R.C.O. Matthews, M.H. Miller, P.M. Oppenheimer, M.V. Posner, W.B. Reddaway, J.R. Sargent, M.F-G. Scott, Z.A. Silberston, J.H.B. Tew, J.S. Vickers, S. Wadhwani.The industrial relations legislation of the 1980s has been widely credited with having made a major contribution to Britain's economic performance. This study evaluates its actual impact. The costs to trade unions of strike action have increased, but the legislation has had some perverse effects, not least in encouraging unions to tighten up their own organisation. The economic consequences predicted by the policy makers are investigated by means of a number of econometric studies. They suggest that the expected employment and wage effects did not occur. They also failed to provide improvements in labour productivity. The study offers an alternative explanation of these findings.

scholarly journals Labour standards application in the informal economy of Ghana: The patterns and pressures

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (196) ◽  
pp. 157-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Akorsu
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Labour Legislation

In spite of the rapid growth and importance of informal employment in Ghana, few studies have investigated the extent of coverage of labour standards application, as a form of labour market regulation. This paper investigates the extent of labour standards application in shaping the employment relations and conditions within the informal economy. The study focuses on 30 manufacturing firms in Ghana?s informal economy. Data were obtained through interviews with 43 entrepreneurs and their workers, as well as with key informants from the social partners of industrial relations. The study shows that labour standards are generally not applied among informal economy operators due to factors such as a lack of coverage of the existing labour legislation, ineffective enforcement, ignorance, peculiarities of work organisation, and the dynamics of the apprenticeship system. It is therefore concluded that informal economy workers, who constitute the majority of the workforce in Ghana, lack social protection and must be targeted for intervention.

Borders in a European Labor Market

2018 ◽  
pp. 96-114
Author(s):  
Ines Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Labor Market Regulation

Chapter 5 adopts a more explicitly spatial perspective and looks at how borders are constructed in both regulatory and workplace terms. It analyzes the contours of the new structure for employment relations that emerges within the pan-European labor market and studies the reshaping of the nation state from the micro-level points of view of societal actors such as mobile workers, public administration officials, firms, and trade unions. Findings demonstrate that two types of borders are significant in relation to posting in a pan-European labor market: (1) borders for labor market regulation that inhibit the enforcement of labor rights and (2) the border of the firm—that is, the border between the main and subcontracting firms that isolates workers from the host-country industrial relations systems. These borders impact the institutional separation between posted workers and host-country trade unions.

scholarly journals Active Enactment and Virtuous Circles of Employment Relations: How Danish Unions Organised the Transnationalised Copenhagen Metro Construction Project

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 682-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Arnholtz ◽  
Bjarke Refslund
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Scale Construction ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Labour Market Regulation

Transnational workers on large-scale construction projects are often poorly included in national industrial relations systems, which results in employment relations becoming trapped in vicious circles of weak enforcement and precarious work. This article shows how Danish unions have, nonetheless, been successful in enacting existing institutions and organising the construction of the Copenhagen Metro City Ring, despite initially encountering a highly fragmented, transnational workforce and several subcontracting firms that actively sought to circumvent Danish labour-market regulation. This is explained by the union changing their organising and enforcement strategies, thereby utilising various power resources to create inclusive strategies towards transnational workers. This includes efforts to create shared objectives and identity across divergent groups of workers and actively seeking changes in the public owners’ attitude towards employment relations.

scholarly journals The evolving nature of labour inspection, enforcement of employment rights and the regulatory reach of the state in Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-757
Author(s):  
Stephen Mustchin ◽  
Miguel Martínez Lucio
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The State ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Employment Rights

The role of the state in directly regulating employment through enforcement mechanisms is increasingly significant and politically contentious in a context of weakened unions and the increasingly fragmented and precarious nature of the labour market. This article focuses on qualitative research on labour market regulatory actors in Britain, including the Health and Safety Executive, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, as well as referencing relevant changes in HM Revenue and Customs, trade unions, legal and advice services and other state agencies. The article argues that a curious dynamic is emerging in labour market regulation involving simultaneous processes of deregulation, greater levels of direct intervention in some areas alongside marketisation, and innovative forms of collaboration between relevant state agencies. Much of this is, however, driven by constraints imposed through economic austerity and neoliberal policies with an increasing focus on immigration and policing concerns, creating notable sets of organisational tensions within and between the agencies and the work of their relevant inspectors.

Complements or Substitutes? Taxation, Social Welfare and Labour Market Regulation: An Industrial Relations Perspective on the ‘Five Economists’ Plan

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-45
Author(s):  
Julien Barbara ◽  
Peter Gahan
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Employment Relationships ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Core ◽  
Labour Market Regulation

The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the assumptions and proposals put forward in the Five Economists' plan to change the balance between social welfare, taxation and labour market regulation. The core theme developed here is that the proposal is based on questionable assumptions about the nature of employment relationships and labour market processes. An alternative framework is advanced. Using the Dutch case, it is argued that a more appropriate balance between these policy instruments, which requires an account of the distribution of risk between workers, firms and the state, provides a better theoretical basis on which linkages between taxation, social welfare and labour market regulation can be recast. ‘Let me say, at the outset, that you should be sceptical of anyone who suggests that there are any easy solutions. Solutions which most economists would agree could enable a return to “full employment” or very low unemployment, are either socially or politically unacceptable, or we do not know how to Implement them. The best solution is to achieve a large increase in the rate of economic growth.’ (Dawkins 1996: 16)

The Danish Model of Industrial Relations: Erosion or Renewal?

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Due ◽  
Jørgen Steen Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Critical Case ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Effective Combination ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Enterprise Level ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Globalized World

The Danish model represents one of the most solidly-based industrial relation (IR) systems in Europe, and is today internationally regarded as an exemplar owing to its effective combination of flexibility and security in labour-market regulation. But in an increasingly globalized world even this model has come under pressure. The pressure comes from three different directions: (1) from EU regulation; (2) from the national political system; and, (3) from the parties at enterprise level. The organized or centralized decentralization of the collective bargaining system that was seen as the answer to the increased competitive pressure of internationalization would appear to have reached its limit and to have been replaced by a trend towards multi-level regulation. Whether this trend will lead to renewal or erosion of the Danish model will be revealed over the coming years. There are signs that indicate the model's continued robustness, but there are also signs of weakening. The outcome is not only of national interest, but also has international relevance, since Denmark can be seen as the IR model par excellence. As a critical case the development of the Danish model is an indicator of the traditional IR system's future prospects in general.

Unions and Migrant Workers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonila Danaj ◽  
Erka Çaro ◽  
Laura Mankki ◽  
Markku Sippola ◽  
Nathan Lillie
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Informal Work ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the relationship between migrant workers and trade unions in different host countries. Based on a series of biographic interviews with Estonian migrant workers in Finland and Albanian workers in Italy and Greece, it makes the case that when migrants join unions, it is usually a result of an individual movement out of precarious and sometimes informal work into secure, formal work relations. The availability of such secure jobs for migrants is a result of inclusive national institutions of labour market regulation, and a strong trade union workplace presence. Although in all three countries the migrants were quite passive and instrumentalist in their relations to unions, they nonetheless generally joined when working in unionized contexts, as a way of conforming to workplace norms.

Labour Market Regulations and Growth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg Badunenko
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Labour Productivity Growth ◽  
Capital Deepening ◽  
Labour Market Regulation

This chapter builds a model in which labour market regulations influence labour productivity growth through labour markets. The model decomposes labour productivity growth into components attributable to (i) changes in efficiency; (ii) technological change; (iii) physical capital deepening; (iv) human capital accumulation; (v) labour market regulations changes. The empirical analysis Penn World Tables and Economic Freedom of the World data is performed for 1970–95 and 1995–2014. Findings can be summarized as follows. First, physical capital deepening is the major driving force behind productivity growth over the period. Labour market regulation changes having contributed next to nothing during 1970–95, become the second most important force of economic growth after 1995. Second, relatively rich nations benefit more from changes to labour market regulations than do relatively poor nations. Finally, contributions from labour market regulations changes to growth is stronger for countries with less liberalized labour markets.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document