Despite the growing significance afforded to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in contemporary Britain, much of the industrial relations (IR) literature in this country is based on research undertaken in large organisations. The minority of IR studies that are focused upon smaller firms...

Wage inequality is a particular focus of attention not only in public debates over the need for social regulation to support equity, but those over the implications of social regulation for productive performance. The present paper employs panel techniques to examine the comparative historical...

Employment in the Retail and Wholesale Distribution sector was estimated as 4.7 million in 2002, representing 17 per cent of UK employment. The sector is seen as a major source ofnew employment opportunities over the next decade.At the same time the sector is reporting serious skills shortages,...

This paper seeks to further our understanding of the links between training, learning and performance at the level of the firm. It starts with a critical examination of the conceptual underpinning of conventional approaches to this problem, approaches that dominate much of the academic and...

The concept of the Low Skills Equilibrium (LSE) denotes a mutually reinforcing set of mechanisms that generate a pattern of low skills and low productivity. The idea has been a powerful one in both analytical and policy terms. There is growing emphasis on the need to study the LSE at the level...

Current UK skills policy is centred on the need to drive up qualifications obtainment and make the system more employer-led with Sector Skills Councils (SSC) being given the role of articulating the 'voice' of employers. Through a study of recruitment and selection processes in the fitness...

This paper considers whether listed companies with dispersed ownership invest less in training than do other firms, as part of a short-termist stance caused by pressure from the stock market. An analytical framework that supports the proposition involves three factors: high agency costs between...

The dominant political-economic narrative of our time is that, under conditions of global competition with low-wage economies able to undercut even efficient western firms, the only viable and sustainable route to competitiveness is to trade on high value-added goods and services and that these...