Labour Market Regulation: Comparing the UK and French Aerospace Industries.

This paper examines the link between forms of labour market regulation, in particular relation to measures of employment security, and the development and maintenance of an adequate skill basis. In identifying the importance of the different institutional and regulatory contexts within France and the UK, their influence on the management of employees is considered. The paper assesses whether the lack of regulation in the UK encourages volatilty of employment and, thereby, lower training provision and skill shortages. In contrast, it questions whether the more regulated French environment supports employment stability, higher levels of training ans, as a result, more advantages for firms competing in areas of high quality production.