The Efficacy of Hybrid Collective Bargaining Systems: An Analysis of the Impact of Collective Bargaining on Company Performance in Europe (original) (raw)
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Economic and Industrial Democracy
In this article it is argued that the economic crisis has made national collective bargaining systems increasingly multi-layered, perforated and dynamically unstable, i.e. hybrid. The authors explain these transformations in terms of the concomitance of two different sources of change which do not necessarily follow the same logics. The first source stems from national systems’ endogenous logic of path dependency and the second from pressure to reform in accordance with exogenously applied strategies and logics. It is argued that these sources act like a whipsaw, pushing and pulling national collective bargaining systems between the two logics, leading to hybrid collective bargaining systems.
European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2006
Using two nationally representative establishment data sets, this paper investigates collective bargaining coverage and firms' choice of governance structures for the employment relationship in Britain and in (western and eastern) Germany. Both countries have experienced a substantial decline in collective bargaining coverage in the last decades. While bargaining coverage is generally lower in Britain, single-employer bargaining is relatively more important in Britain, whereas multi-employer collective bargaining clearly dominates in Germany. Econometric analyses show that more or less the same set of variables play a statistically significant role in explaining the structure of collective bargaining in both countries. These include establishment size, establishment age, foreign ownership, public sector affiliation and being a branch plant.
Multi-employer bargaining under pressure Decentralisation trends in five European countries —
2019
Multi-employer bargaining has been under pressure in recent years from the dual impact of the economic crisis and government interventions in areas traditionally within the remit of social partner autonomy. Such pressure has impacted on both the structure of collective bargaining – notably the degree of coordination between different bargaining levels and across bargaining units – and its outcomes. This has resulted, among other things, in wage restraint and internal devaluation, as well as more concession bargaining at company level. The space for decentralised bargaining has increased even where bargaining systems remain strongly organised. The reforms introduced during the crisis have increased the number of options available to employers, thereby reinforcing their bargaining position vis-à-vis the unions, and have sometimes directly strengthened employers’ prerogatives to modify employment terms and conditions.
IZA Journal of Labor Policy
Collective bargaining has come under renewed scrutiny, especially in Southern European countries, which rely predominantly on sectoral bargaining supported by administrative extensions of collective agreements. Following the global financial crisis, some of these countries have implemented substantial reforms in the context of adjustment programmes, seen by some as a ‘frontal assault’ on collective bargaining. This paper compares the recent top-down reforms in Portugal with the more gradual evolution of the system in the Netherlands. While the Dutch bargaining system shares many of the key features that characterise the Portuguese system, it has shown a much greater ability to adjust to new challenges through concerted social dialogue. This paper shows that the recent reforms in Portugal have brought the system more in line with Dutch practices, including in relation to the degree of flexibility in sectoral collective agreements at the worker and firm levels, the criteria for admini...
2021
Decentralisation of collective bargaining has been one of the key trends concerning labour market regulation of the last decades. Most of European countries have developed – with different breath and scope – procedures and reforms to strengthen the company level of bargaining. The Great Recession has stressed this orientation, particularly in those countries which were under financial pressure. This paper focuses on the cases of four Mediterranean countries – France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – in order to assess how decentralisation has been carried out and, most importantly, what kind of practical results have been achieved. On the base of these outcomes, it highlights how the debate concerning the structure of collective bargaining is changing from a black or white perspective to a new one in which mixed models are possible if the whole system is coordinated, taking into consideration the type of collective bargaining model set in the country.
Last trends on collective bargaining decentralization
LABOS Revista de Derecho del Trabajo y Protección Social
Decentralisation of collective bargaining has been one of the key trends concerning labour market regulation of the last decades. Most of European countries have developed – with different breath and scope – procedures and reforms to strengthen the company level of bargaining. The Great Recession has stressed this orientation, particularly in those countries which were under financial pressure. This paper focuses on the cases of four Mediterranean countries – France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – in order to assess how decentralisation has been carried out and, most importantly, what kind of practical results have been achieved. On the base of these outcomes, it highlights how the debate concerning the structure ofcollective bargaining is changing from a black or white perspective to a new one in which mixed models are possible if the whole system is coordinated, taking into consideration the type of collective bargaining model set in the country.
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The collective bargaining in Portugal have a new legal board, the "hold" one in the beginning appear to be the end of negotiation, but after two years, more or less, the dynamic of the collective bargaining put the numbers (agreements) near to the ones of the old law. The unions and the employer's organizations made some efforts and they reach new agreements, this dynamics is present in some process that we will show in this paper.
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E-Journal of international and comparative labour studies, 2016
Europe has recently been undergoing a severe economic and financial crisis. Although several countries had already been introducing labour reforms in the past years, the crisis was undoubtedly an accelerating force that called for more and deeper changes. This paper considers such changes and how in a number of cases (e.g. Portugal and Greece), the reforms were even demanded by external entities as a condition for financial assistance.