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INTERNATIONAL
& COMPARATIVE
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Globalisation and change Russell D Lansbury and Nick Wailes
CHAPTER 1
International and comparative employment relations:
An introduction
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Lecture outline
• International and Comparative Employment Relations
– Definitions
– Objectives of the field of study
– Research challenges
• Theories of convergence and divergence in employment relations systems
• Views on the impact of globalisation and employment relations (ER)
• The Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) approach
– Main features of the approach
– Applying the VoC approach to ER
– VoC, globalisation, and the convergence/divergence debate
– Limitations of the approach
• Transnational employment relations
– Capital and labour as transnational actors
• International labour organisations
• International employer organisations
• Multinational corporations (MNCs)
– Transnational regulatory bodies
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
Chapter 1: • World Trade Organization (WTO)
2 Introduction Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Globalisation
• Globalisation is used to characterise changes in the
international economy
• It normally refers to growing interconnectedness of the
international economy
• It is associated with growth in:
– Cross-national trade
– Foreign direct investment (FDI)
– Growth in international financial transactions
• It is argued that globalisation has created a common set of
economic pressures across all markets (products and factors)
which may impact on ER
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Globalisation and ER
Two views on how globalisation impacts on employment
relations:
1. Simple globalisation approach
– economic pressures associated with globalisation will result in a convergence
of employment relations policies and practices
• “race to the bottom” in terms of wages and labour standards as mobile capital
seeks lowest labour costs
• governments lose autonomy in policy making and can no longer guarantee labour
rights
• Instead, legislation to accelerate decentralisation and deregulation of the labour
market and to attract capital investment
2. Institutionalist approach
– Despite common economic pressures associated with globalisation, diversity
in national patterns of ER will persist
• existing ER institutions mediate and filter those pressures, and will do so
differently in different countries
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Main features 2
• A firm must coordinate with other actors in 5 spheres:
– Industrial relations
– Vocational training and education
– Corporate governance
– Inter-firm relations
– Relations with its own employees
• The relations with actors in these spheres are problematic
• Firms can resolve coordination problems
– Internally within the firm (hierarchies)
– Externally (market or non-market institutions)
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Main features 3
• National institutions shape how firms resolve these
coordination problems
– In LMEs, firms resolve coordination problems mainly through hierarchies
and markets – i.e. arm’s length relations and high levels of competition
– In CMEs, firms resolve coordination problems not only through
hierarchies and markets but also through non-market institutions – i.e.
strategic interaction
• Both these solutions to coordination problems form
institutional equilibria which have comparative advantage
– In LMEs, the comparative advantage arises from the flexibility of these
coordination arrangements
– In CMEs, the comparative advantage arises from cooperative behaviour
among actors, based on information exchange, monitoring and
sanctioning of defections
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Institutional complementarity
• Complementarity occurs where the presence of one institution enhances
the returns from another institution
• In this way comparative advantage arises from the ‘bundling’ of
complementary institutions
• Hence, countries cluster around bundles of complementary institutions –
two distinct clusters are LMEs and CMEs
• This important departure from comparative IR studies which sought to link
single features (e.g. collective bargaining structure) with economic
performance
• The effect of single institutions may be misleading as performance may
arise from a constellation of institutional arrangements
• Implications for ‘bolt on’ policy responses
• Comparative institutional advantage: the institutional frameworks (either
LME or CME) provide nations with comparative advantages in performing
certain activities and producing certain kinds of goods and services
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Labour internationalism
• Labour as a passive victim of globalisation or
as a global actor?
• International union confederations
– Global confederations e.g. International Trade Union Confederation ITUC (was
ICFTU)
– Regional confederations e.g. European Trade Union Confederation ETUC
– Global union federations which link together national unions from a particular
trade or industry e.g. International Metalworkers’ Federation IMF
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Chapter 1:
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Chapter 1:
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International Core Labour Standards
Ratification of conventions by
member states of the ILO
create binding obligations to
put their provision into effect
(181 conventions ratified so
far).
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Chapter 1:
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Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Employment Relations 5th edition Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Conclusion
• Globalisation is having a profound influence on the
way that work is regulated.
• Studying internationally comparative employment
relations allows us to develop an understanding of
our own and other employment relations systems.
• The Varieties of Capitalism approach is a useful
framework for studying internationally comparative
employment relations. It allows us to study
employment relations within a broader institutional
context.
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.