In recent years, there has been a trend towards the negotiation of closer contractual relationships between employers and employment agencies. However, little is known about this change or its likely consequences. In theory, such relationships can benefit employers by lowering fees and also...

This paper provides a critical macro-level evaluation of the Lisbon process and Sapir report, through the lens of examining the Irish experience. Our assessment of the performance of the Irish economy depicts a picture of catch-up and convergence with average EU productivity and GNP levels,...

Although informal labor has proliferated in many developing countries, the desire to attract foreign direct investment has often led to a disassociation of the national government from labor regulation at the federal level. Enforcement capacity (and commitment) at the state/provincial level is...

In recent years marked changes have occurred in the way employers recruit and select agency workers, with this activity increasingly being outsourced to third party organizations providing ‘vendor managed services’ (VMS). Drawing on data from a study of English social services, this...

The Brexit vote has thrown up issues of the sharp regional disparities that divide the UK. The vote has been seen as a protest by those who felt left behind by globalization and hence a need for government policy to address regional disparities. As a result there has been a re-emergence of...