Reducing poverty and social exclusion is an important objective for all French governments. Even though conventionally measured poverty is in fact lower than in most other countries, it is still higher than can be easily accepted. The current policy approach involves a large number of measures...

Until a few years ago, the received wisdom about corporatism was that although it had once been an important institutional alternative to liberal capitalism, it was crumbling everywhere due to the combined effects of globalization, European integration, technological change, and a generalized...

The employment relationship between employer and employee has gone through fundamental changes in the last decades, influencing psychological contracts. It is unclear, however, exactly how psychological contracts are changing. This article offers a comprehensive model that focuses on two factors...

This article investigates the transformations of the French unionism and of the French system of industrial relations over the last years and their probable future. It shows: an evolution from a militant unionism to a professionalized trade unionist system; the decline of collective actions; the...

This paper examines the past, present and future trajectory of unions and the union movement in Britain to analyse whether collectively they remain on the margins of influence in the economy and society or whether, given and because of the crisis of neoliberalism, they may be on the cusp of a...

The purpose of the paper is to analyse how labour market and labour market institutions reacted during recent crises. In early 1990s Estonia introduced a set of rather unique policy options like currency board as a ground for monetary policy, low taxes, open foreign trade policy, low public...

The return of social pacts in the context of the current economic crisis, as seen in southern European countries, invites the revival of the discussion about the development of social dialogue practice in its specific context. Based on a longitudinal analysis we examine the agenda of Spanish...

In this paper we present comparative evidence from OECD countries concerning the impact of product and labour market regulations on innovation. While product and labour market policies usually aim at objectives other than innovation, they may have important consequences for the profitability of...

Despite the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) between nations today, academics and policy makers alike have yet to fully understand why trading nations actively pursue free trade agreements. With what aim do governments enter into an FTA? In this paper, we propose that the...