Bernd Brandl | Durham Business School (original) (raw)

Papers by Bernd Brandl

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society

Individual and company bargaining has increasingly supplanted sector and country collective barga... more Individual and company bargaining has increasingly supplanted sector and country collective bargaining leading to increasingly perforated and multi-layered national collective bargaining systems. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive categorization of bargaining and argue that both the bargaining level and the degree of integrative interaction between bargaining units matters for efficacy. This idea is tested using representative company level data for the European Union. We find that the efficacy of coordinated sector and multi-level systems is higher than for all other forms of bargaining. Policy implications are discussed as these results challenge current attempts to reform collective bargaining in Europe.

British Journal of Industrial Relations

Previous studies on collective bargaining structures and macroeconomic performance have largely i... more Previous studies on collective bargaining structures and macroeconomic performance have largely ignored the role of the stable and instable institutional structures and the effects of institutional change itself. In this paper we posit that institutional stability of collective bargaining is of major importance for the moderation of unit labour costs growth. This hypothesis is tested on the basis of data which covers the period 1965 to 2012 and includes 28 countries. The results show that institutional change impairs the capacity to moderate unit labour cost growth significantly in the subsequent years following the change. This effect also holds for changes in both decentralization and centralization of institutions.

Operations Research Proceedings 2002, 2003

This paper discusses the question whether Artificial Neural Networks(ANNs) have the capacity to e... more This paper discusses the question whether Artificial Neural Networks(ANNs) have the capacity to exploit (additional) non-linear information on the basis of exchange rate forecast models selected on linear criteria. This includes a comparison of exchange rate forecasts between ANNs and linear statistical methods and it is asked whether linear relationships serve as an approximation. The focused forecast models are selected by a data mining approach which combines fundamentals from economic theory, respectively building blocks from economic theory, with “fundamentals” derived solely by statistical criteria. This combination of theoretical and statistical relationships in data mining makes sure that both long run determinants on exchange rate behaviour as well as current influences are integrated in the forecast models. The results are evaluated for five exchange rates on a monthly frequency. The results favour the use of ANNs as they slightly improve the out-of-sample performance of the forecast models. What is more, linear as well as non-linear methods can be applied and the advantages from both methods can be used, which means that statistical methods allow a more detailed analysis of the results whereas ANNs offer a slightly better forecast performance.

European Journal of Industrial Relations

I analyse the incidence of trust between employee representatives and management at the firm leve... more I analyse the incidence of trust between employee representatives and management at the firm level in EU member states. Most previous analyses focus primarily on employees’ trust in the employer, but I consider both sides. The analysis confirms, but generalizes, some known stylized facts such as that trust is relatively high in Scandinavian countries but relatively low in Mediterranean countries. My analysis also reveals a number of novel stylized facts, including a high degree of variability in Central and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, strong mutual trust is very rare throughout Europe and the trust relationship is systematically asymmetric, as employers’ trust in the employee side is systematically higher than the reverse relationship.

Diese Arbeit beschaeftigt sich mit der Frage, weshalb die industriellen Beziehungen in einigen Se... more Diese Arbeit beschaeftigt sich mit der Frage, weshalb die industriellen Beziehungen in einigen Sektoren durch einen hohen Grad an transnationaler Homogenitaet charakterisiert sind, waehrenddessen andere Sektoren sich in ihren industriellen Beziehungen ueber Laendergrenzen hinweg stark unterscheiden. Basierend auf der Theorie einer Transformation der industriellen Beziehungen entlang veraenderter Marktbedingungen wird in dieser Arbeit die Hypothese untersucht, dass das Ausmass der sektoralen Internationalisierung transnational homogene sektorale Systeme der industriellen Beziehungen bedingt. Auf Grundlage einer empirischen Untersuchung von neun Sektoren in allen Mitgliedslaendern der Europaeischen Union kann diese Hypothese bestaetigt werden. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit erlauben die Schlussfolgerung, dass eine transnationale Konvergenz in den industriellen Beziehungen sektorspezifisch ist und dass Arbeiten im Bereich der laendervergleichenden industriellen Beziehungen verstaerkt der se...

Wahrend in der offentlichen Meinung und Medienberichterstattung Ubereinstimmung dahingehend beste... more Wahrend in der offentlichen Meinung und Medienberichterstattung Ubereinstimmung dahingehend besteht, dass in Osterreich eine Koordinierung der Lohnpolitik durch die Lohnfuhrerschaft der Metallindustrie erfolgt, ist dies in der akademischen Diskussion nicht unumstritten. Der Grund dafur ist, dass die Lohnfuhrerschaft in Osterreich bis dato keiner systematisch-empirischen Untersuchung unterzogen wurde. Dieser Aufsatz schliest diese Forschungslucke auf der Grundlage einer Analyse der Kollektivvertragsabschlusse von 1969 bis 2004. Er bestatigt die Existenz der Lohnfuhrerschaft und zeigt uberdies, dass deren Genese in engem Zusammenhang mit der Generalisierung der Hartwahrungspolitik in Form der Anbindung des Schillings an die Deutsche Mark ab Anfang der 1980er Jahre steht.

Previous studies on the relationship between economic performance and collective bargaining have ... more Previous studies on the relationship between economic performance and collective bargaining have focused on the effects of different levels and forms of coordination of bargaining parties. While not

This paper focuses on employment effects since Austria joined the European Union. The location of... more This paper focuses on employment effects since Austria joined the European Union. The location of economic activity and thus employment has been of interest for the economics profession for a long time. In this respect the question on the employment effects of integration in common markets is of special interest as the hypothesis can be raised that because of increased competition regions will specialize and industries will concentrate. Therefore it is asked how regions have specialized and how industries have concentrated by using various concentration/specialization measures. Moreover, the role of foreign direct investments are observed in explaining concentration/specialization as well as regional employment shifts. It is shown (i) that no general trends in specialization/concentration can be detected, so that on a general level the hypothesis of joining a common market necessarily leads to specialization/concentration must be refused, but for specific industries and regions inte...

This paper addresses the puzzle of why the same workplace employment relations regimes can lead t... more This paper addresses the puzzle of why the same workplace employment relations regimes can lead to different performances and why different regimes can produce the same performance. It is argued that the incidence of mutual, and not necessarily unilateral, trust between the employee representation and the management accounts for these differences, as mutual trust fosters information sharing and helps to strike deals that are mutually beneficial. Against the background that the institutional and organisational characteristics of some workplace employment relations regimes also constitutes information sharing and joint decision making, we further argue that mutual trust is a functional equivalent.

Industrial Relations Journal

International Journal of the Economics of Business

International Labour Review

Using representative company level data for all member states of the European Union, we analyze t... more Using representative company level data for all member states of the European Union, we analyze the relationship between different processes and institutional structures of collective bargaining against the development of company labor productivity. Our results clearly show that different processes and institutional structures of collective bargain have very different effects. While show that some processes and structures of collective bargaining ‐ specifically sectorally uncoordinated systems ‐ appear to be detrimental to company performance, the opposite can be said about sectorally coordinated systems. The latter are highly beneficial for economic performance. Thus, what matters are the processes and institutional structures in which collective bargaining is embedded and not the question whether bargaining should be conducted collectively or individually.

ILR Review

Whether collective wage bargaining impedes the implementation of variable pay systems is uncertai... more Whether collective wage bargaining impedes the implementation of variable pay systems is uncertain. The authors argue that much of this uncertainty is attributable to the fact that research neglects differences in the institutional structure of bargaining. Using representative company-level data for all member states of the European Union, the authors investigate the incidence of variable pay systems in general as well as pay types that include payment-by-results, performance-related pay, and team-related pay under various bargaining arrangements. Findings show that the institutional structure of collective bargaining matters: Variable pay systems thrive under company and multilevel collective bargaining, whereas their implementation is limited under national-level collective wage bargaining.

Employee Relations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial relations, and the consequences of this embeddedness for industrial relations outcomes. First, starting from the paradoxical observation of a trend towards homogeneity within a complex, multi-layered European industrial relations system consisting of heterogeneous and autonomous agents, the paper aims to explicate the mechanisms which produce these similarities. Second, the paper seeks to analyse potential mechanisms for transnational trade union cooperation and, third, it concludes by outlining its applicability as the basis for methodological approaches which enable realistic and policy relevant analyses. Design/methodology/approach This paper is conceptual and focusses on the development of a general micro-theoretical framework which captures European industrial relations actors’ behaviour and outc...