a column by Will Abel, Silvana Tenreyro and Gregory Thwaites for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Concentrated labour markets, in which workers have few choices of potential employers, reduce the wages of workers when they are not covered by collective wage bargaining agreements.
But these types of agreements have become much less common in the past 20 years.
This column uses employee-level data to show that even though UK labour markets have not on average become much more concentrated, concentration – which varies a great deal across regions and industries – is having a bigger impact on wages than before.
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Showing posts with label collective_bargaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collective_bargaining. Show all posts
Monday, 28 January 2019
Sunday, 24 December 2017
Labour unions and solidarity in times of precarity
a post by Virginia Doellgast, Nathan Lillie and Valeria Pulignano for the OUP (Oxford University Press) blog
Rail trafffic train by geralt. Public domain via Pixabay.
Labour unions have traditionally been at the forefront of the struggle to improve job security, pay, and working conditions. The widely observed growth in precarious work in recent decades is a result of union weakness, as they are increasingly likely to lose these battles.
Many, including scholars in the influential dual labour market school of thought in Comparative Political Economy, have argued that unions often promote the job security of their ‘insider’ core members at the expense of more precarious ‘outsiders.’ It cannot be denied that unions sometimes accede to employer demands to shift jobs to non-standard, insecure contracts and deregulate labour markets, or neglect the interests of precarious workers.
However, these exclusive strategies are often developed under the frame of competitive collective bargaining and are rarely sustainable in the long term. Where core workers do not show solidarity with vulnerable workers, they often undermine their own bargaining power through allowing lower-cost competition to expand.
On the other hand, ensuring equal treatment for all workers, particularly those in unstable work, is essential to the long-term viability of the labour movement.
Continue reading
Rail trafffic train by geralt. Public domain via Pixabay.Labour unions have traditionally been at the forefront of the struggle to improve job security, pay, and working conditions. The widely observed growth in precarious work in recent decades is a result of union weakness, as they are increasingly likely to lose these battles.
Many, including scholars in the influential dual labour market school of thought in Comparative Political Economy, have argued that unions often promote the job security of their ‘insider’ core members at the expense of more precarious ‘outsiders.’ It cannot be denied that unions sometimes accede to employer demands to shift jobs to non-standard, insecure contracts and deregulate labour markets, or neglect the interests of precarious workers.
However, these exclusive strategies are often developed under the frame of competitive collective bargaining and are rarely sustainable in the long term. Where core workers do not show solidarity with vulnerable workers, they often undermine their own bargaining power through allowing lower-cost competition to expand.
On the other hand, ensuring equal treatment for all workers, particularly those in unstable work, is essential to the long-term viability of the labour movement.
Continue reading
Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Collective bargaining systems and macroeconomic and microeconomic flexibility: the quest for appropriate institutional forms in advanced economies
an article by John T Addison (University of South Carolina and Durham University Business School) published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 5 Article 19 (2016)
Abstract
This paper addresses the design of the machinery of collective bargaining from the perspective of microeconomic and macroeconomic flexibility.
In the former context, somewhat greater attention is given over to enterprise flexibility than external adjustment. In the latter context, close attention is also paid to changes in collective bargaining along the dimensions of bargaining coverage, structure, and coordination.
Support is adduced for the German, contemporary Scandinavian, and British models.
The role of trust in securing micro and macro flexibility also receives attention, suggesting that the polder or Dutch model might also be expected to populate the firmament of fit-for-purpose collective bargaining arrangements.
JEL Classification: D02, E02, E24, E25, E61, JO8 J51, J52, J53, J58, P51
Full text (HTML)
Abstract
This paper addresses the design of the machinery of collective bargaining from the perspective of microeconomic and macroeconomic flexibility.
In the former context, somewhat greater attention is given over to enterprise flexibility than external adjustment. In the latter context, close attention is also paid to changes in collective bargaining along the dimensions of bargaining coverage, structure, and coordination.
Support is adduced for the German, contemporary Scandinavian, and British models.
The role of trust in securing micro and macro flexibility also receives attention, suggesting that the polder or Dutch model might also be expected to populate the firmament of fit-for-purpose collective bargaining arrangements.
JEL Classification: D02, E02, E24, E25, E61, JO8 J51, J52, J53, J58, P51
Full text (HTML)
Thursday, 31 January 2013
The effectiveness of socially sustainable sourcing mechanisms: Assessing the prospects of a new form of joint regulation
an article by Chris F. Wright (Macquarie University, Australia) and William Brown (University of Cambridge, UK) published in Industrial Relations Journal
Volume 44 Issue 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
The traditional mechanisms for improving and protecting labour standards in advanced economies are failing.
In Britain, the effectiveness of collective bargaining has diminished substantially over the past quarter century. Legally enforceable minimum labour standards have been an inadequate substitute.
A new form of ‘joint regulation’ is emerging that may be better attuned to the contemporary structure of product market competition. It involves employers and unions coordinating action on labour standards across the supply chains of firms that contribute to the production of a particular good or service.
This article explores the circumstances in which these ‘socially sustainable sourcing’ mechanisms develop and examines their impact on labour standards, by means of two case studies.
Abstract
The traditional mechanisms for improving and protecting labour standards in advanced economies are failing.
In Britain, the effectiveness of collective bargaining has diminished substantially over the past quarter century. Legally enforceable minimum labour standards have been an inadequate substitute.
A new form of ‘joint regulation’ is emerging that may be better attuned to the contemporary structure of product market competition. It involves employers and unions coordinating action on labour standards across the supply chains of firms that contribute to the production of a particular good or service.
This article explores the circumstances in which these ‘socially sustainable sourcing’ mechanisms develop and examines their impact on labour standards, by means of two case studies.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
The crisis and social policy: The role of collective agreements
an article by Vera Glassneri (Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria) and Maarten Keune (Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)published in International Labour Review Special Issue: The Crisis, Inequalities and Social Policy in the European Union Volume 151 Issue 4 (December 2012)
Abstract
Based on an analysis of collective agreements concluded across the EU in 2008–11, the authors examine their contributions to social policy through provisions for short-time work, training, wage moderation, and flexibilization of wage setting and working time.
They highlight the distinction between the public and private sectors in this respect, contrasting the former’s very limited scope for integrative bargaining in the face of mounting budget deficits and austerity with the latter’s (initially) more balanced trade-offs between cost competitiveness and maintenance of employment and wages, especially in countries with coordinated bargaining systems.
Elsewhere, the authors argue, the outcomes look set to deteriorate further.
Abstract
Based on an analysis of collective agreements concluded across the EU in 2008–11, the authors examine their contributions to social policy through provisions for short-time work, training, wage moderation, and flexibilization of wage setting and working time.
They highlight the distinction between the public and private sectors in this respect, contrasting the former’s very limited scope for integrative bargaining in the face of mounting budget deficits and austerity with the latter’s (initially) more balanced trade-offs between cost competitiveness and maintenance of employment and wages, especially in countries with coordinated bargaining systems.
Elsewhere, the authors argue, the outcomes look set to deteriorate further.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Institutional reforms and age-graded labour market inequalities in Europe
an article by Martina Dieckhoff (Social Science Research Center Berlin, Germany) and Nadia Steiber (European University Institute, Italy) published in International Journal of Comparative Sociology Volume 53 Number 2 (April 2012)
Abstract
This article examines how institutional change affects age-based labour market inequalities in Europe. We focus on the impact of labour regulation and of wage-setting institutions on the male population aged 25–54.
Age-graded labour market inequalities within this group of prime-age individuals are hitherto under-researched.
We estimate country panel regressions using data from the European Union Labour Force Survey and time-series data on institutional change for the years 1992–2007. The results present evidence that employment protection and the regulation of temporary work affect age-based inequality dynamics, while union strength has positive employment effects on all age-groups.
Abstract
This article examines how institutional change affects age-based labour market inequalities in Europe. We focus on the impact of labour regulation and of wage-setting institutions on the male population aged 25–54.
Age-graded labour market inequalities within this group of prime-age individuals are hitherto under-researched.
We estimate country panel regressions using data from the European Union Labour Force Survey and time-series data on institutional change for the years 1992–2007. The results present evidence that employment protection and the regulation of temporary work affect age-based inequality dynamics, while union strength has positive employment effects on all age-groups.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Setting the minimum wage
an article by Tito Boeri (Università Bocconi and Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti, Italy) published in Labour Economics Volume 19 Number 3 (June 2012)
Abstract
The process leading to the setting of the minimum wage so far has been overlooked by economists.
There are two common ways of setting national minimum wages: they are either government legislated or the by-product of collective bargaining agreements, which are extended erga omnes to all workers.
We develop a simple model relating the level of the minimum wage to the setting regime. Next, we exploit a new data set on minimum wages in 68 countries having a statutory national minimum level of pay in the period 1981–2005.
We find that a government legislated minimum wage is lower than a wage floor set within collective agreements. This effect survives to several robustness checks and can be interpreted as a causal effect of the setting regime on the level of the minimum wage.
JEL classifications J31; J41; J42
Abstract
The process leading to the setting of the minimum wage so far has been overlooked by economists.
There are two common ways of setting national minimum wages: they are either government legislated or the by-product of collective bargaining agreements, which are extended erga omnes to all workers.
We develop a simple model relating the level of the minimum wage to the setting regime. Next, we exploit a new data set on minimum wages in 68 countries having a statutory national minimum level of pay in the period 1981–2005.
We find that a government legislated minimum wage is lower than a wage floor set within collective agreements. This effect survives to several robustness checks and can be interpreted as a causal effect of the setting regime on the level of the minimum wage.
JEL classifications J31; J41; J42
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