The recent change of government brings to an end a sustained attempt to transform British industrial relations by legislative action. This article explores the consequences. It explains the cumulative effect of the legal changes since 1979, including the growing influence of the European...

The recent change of government brings to an end a sustained attempt to transform British industrial relations by legislative action. This article explores the consequences. It explains the cumulative effect of the legal changes since 1979, including the growing influence of the European...

Changes in public policy and corporate strategy have enhanced the role of contracts as mechanisms of economic governance. The understanding that norms, standards and other forms of regulatory mechanism can affect the structure of incentives and the quality of contractual outcomes has helped to...

The timing and nature of industrialization in Britain and continental Europe had significant consequences for the growth and development of labour market institutions, effects which are still felt today and which are visible in the conceptual structure of labour law and company law in different...

Standard economic theory sees labour law as an exogenous interference with market relations and predicts mostly negative impacts on employment and productivity. We argue for a more nuanced theoretical position: labour law is, at least in part, endogenous, with both the production and the...

The Trade Boards Act 1909 was a landmark in the development of minimum wage regulation in Britain and around the world. Although their powers were limited, the trade boards had immediate and tangible effects in terms of raising living standards, and over time they became a core part of the...

We use cointegration analysis of a new longitudinal legal dataset to show that strengthening creditor rights in India during the 1990s and 2000s led to an increase in bank credit, supporting the view that legal systems can shape financial development.

We use a new legal dataset tracking changes in creditor protection law over several decades to study the impact of legal reforms on banking system development in India. Cointegration analysis is used to show that the strengthening of creditor rights in relation to the enforcement of security...

The EU Working Time Directive has so far had little impact on an ingrained culture of long-hours working in the UK. Case studies suggest that the use of individual opt-outs from the 48-hour limit on weekly working time is a principal reason for this. However, removal of the individual opt-out...