In Germany, free collective bargaining was introduced after the Great War in November 1918. Tough, it has constitutional status, we can observe that the state monitors and sometimes steers the collective bargaining process. This can be explained by using the Principal Agent Model as an...

A cross section analysis of 23 OECD members shows that there is an 'antagonistic' relationship between the legal protection of investor interests on the one hand and labour interests on the other: the stronger the legal protection of investor rights in a country, the less developed are the...

Severance pay is a vital part of employment protection legislation (EPL). We investigate the incidence and level of severance pay for dismissed employees. Our theoretical model predicts that not only the law and its interpretation by labour courts but also the costs of a suit have an impact....

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits...

The Belgian collective bargaining system is highly institutionalised and coordinated. Over 90% of employees are covered by a collective agreement, placing Belgium among the countries with the highest coverage in Europe. Also, the Belgian trade unions have a relatively high level of membership...

The right to collective bargaining is set out in the 1972 French Labour Code. In the last decades, collective bargaining has expanded, partly as a result of government initiatives. The importance of sectoral bargaining increased with the adoption of the 1982 Auroux laws, which obliged the...