Skip to main content

New Directions in Labour Regulation Research

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Advances in Labour Studies ((AILS))

Abstract

This volume is an international and interdisciplinary response to the most influential account of the role and significance of labour market regulation, namely that derived from orthodox economic theory. It also responds to the most prominent alternative to the orthodox narrative: the contention that the central objective of labour and development policies, including in their regulatory dimensions, should be to realize and sustain ‘decent work’. In recent years, these theoretical and normative approaches have galvanized research on labour market regulation. This volume highlights certain of the more significant and novel developments reflected in these literatures. The aim is to feature innovative ideas and approaches, new subjects and debates, and theoretical perspectives and methodologies that characterize contemporary research on labour market regulation. In doing so, it is hoped that this book will enrich and advance the academic and policy debates on post-crisis labour regulation.

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Jonas Agell (1957–2007), whose work inspired the Regulating for Decent Work Network. His plans to be involved were sadly defeated by his failing health.

The authors are grateful to Damian Grimshaw, Leah Vosko and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Acemoglu, D. 2001. ‘Good jobs versus bad jobs’, Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agell, J. 1999. ‘On the benefits from rigid labour markets: norms, market failures, and social insurance’, Economic Journal, vol. 109, pp. F143–F164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agell, J. 2002. ‘On the determinants of labour market institutions: rent seeking vs. social insurance’, German Economic Review, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 107–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agell, J. 2004. ‘Efficiency and equality in the labour market’, CESifo Economic Studies, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 255–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aghion, P.; Algan, Y.; Cahuc, P. 2008. ‘Can policy interact with culture? Minimum wage and the quality of labor relations’, NBER Working Paper no. 14327 (Cambridge, MA).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aherling, B.; Deakin, S. 2007. ‘Labour regulation, corporate governance and legal origin: a case of institutional complementarity?’, Law & Society Review, vol. 41, pp. 865–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alston, P. 2005. Labour Rights as Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anderman, S. 2000 ‘The interpretation of protective employment statutes and contracts of employment’, Industrial Law Journal, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 223–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anxo, D.; O’Reilly, J. ‘Working time regimes and transitions in comparative perspective’, in O’Reilly, J.; Cebrián, I.; Lallement, M. (eds) Working Time Changes: Social Integration through Transitional Labour Markets (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthurs, H. 1996. ‘Labour law without the state’, University of Toronto Law Journal, vol. 46, pp. 1–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arup, C.; Gahan, P.; Howe, J.; Johnstone, R.; Mitchell, R.; O’Donnell, A. (eds) 2006. Labour Law and Labour Market Regulation (Sydney: The Federation Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakvis, P. 2009. ‘The World Bank’s Doing Business report: a last fling for the Washington consensus?’, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, vol. 15, nos 3–4, pp. 419–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bassanini, A.; Duval, R. 2006. ‘Employment patterns in OECD countries: reassessing the role of policies and institutions’, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers no. 35 (Paris: OECD).

    Google Scholar 

  • Basu, K.; Maertens, A. 2007. The Pattern and Causes of Economic Growth in India, Center for Analytical Economics (CAE) Working Paper 07–08 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University).

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin, P. 2007. ‘Beyond the boundaries: prospects for expanding labour market regulation in South Africa’, in Davidov, G.; Langille, B. (eds) Boundaries and Frontiers of Labour Law (Oxford: Hart), pp. 181–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, J.; Cazes, S. 2009. ‘Policymaking gone awry: the labor market regulations of the Doing Business indicators’, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 349–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, J.; Kucera, D. 2008. ‘Labour institutions in the developing world: historical and theoretical perspectives’, in Berg, J.; Kucera, D. (eds) In Defence of Labour Market Institutions: Cultivating Justice in the Developing World (Geneva and London: ILO and Palgrave), pp. 1–31.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bertola, G. 2009. ‘Labour market regulation: motives, measures, effects’, ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Series no. 21 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bewley, S. 1999. Why Wages Don’t Fall During a Recession (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T.; Helppie, B.; Macis, M. 2008. ‘Labour regulations in developing countries: a review of the evidence and directions for future research’, World Bank SP Discussion paper no. 0833 (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T.; van Ours, J. 2008. The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosch, G. 2004. ‘Towards a new standard employment relationship in western europe’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 617–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botero, J.; Djankov, S.; La Porta, R.; Lopez-de-Silanes, F.; Schleifer, A. 2004. ‘The regulation of labour’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 119, no. 4, pp. 1339–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulin, J.Y.; Lallement, M.; Messenger, J.C.; Michon, F. 2006. Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourguignon, F.; Goh, C. 2004. ‘Trade and labor market vulnerability in Indonesia, Republic of Korea, and Thailand’, in Krumm, K.; Kharas, H. (eds) East Asia Integrates: A Trade Policy Agenda for Shared Growth (Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, J.; Deakin, S.; Wilkinson, F. 2005. ‘Capabilities, social rights, and European integration’, in Salais, R.; Villeneuve, R. (eds) Towards a European Politics of Capabilities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cahuc, P.; Zylberberg, A. 2006. The Natural Survival of Work: Job Creation and Job Destruction in a Growing Economy (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso, A.R. 2006. ‘Wage mobility: do institutions make a difference?’, Labour Economics, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 387–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, H. 2006. ‘Multi-segmented workforces, comparative fairness, and the capital boundary obstacle’, in Davidov, G.; Langille, B. (eds) Goals and Means in the Regulation of Work (Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart), pp. 317–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conaghan, J.; Fischl, M.; Klare, K. (eds). 2002. Labour Law in an Era of Globalization: Transformative Practices and Possibilities (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. and Freedland, M. 2006. ‘The complexities of the employing enterprise’, in Davidov, G. and Langille, B. (eds) Goals and Means in the Regulation of Work (Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart), pp. 273–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S.; Lele, P.; Siems, M. 2007. ‘The evolution of labour law: calibrating and comparing regulatory regimes’, International Labour Review, vol. 146, pp. 133–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickens, W. 1984. ‘Occupational safety and health regulation and economic theory’, in Darity, W. (ed.) Labor Economics: Modern Views (Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing), pp. 133–73.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dufwenberg, M.; Lundholm, M. 2001. ‘Social norms and moral hazard’, The Economic Journal, vol. 111, no. 473, pp. 506–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P.; Monder, R.; Black, J. 2004. ‘Why does employment legislation not damage small firms?’, Journal of Law and Society, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 245–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E.; Gächter, S. 2000. ‘Fairness and retaliation: the economics of reciprocity’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 159–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E.; Goette, L.; Zehnder, C. 2009. ‘A behavioral account of labor market: the role of fairness concerns’, Annual Review of Economics, pp. 355–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenwick, C.; Howe, J.; Marshall, S.; Landau, I. 2007. ‘Labour and Labour-related Laws in Micro and Small Enterprises: Innovative Regulatory Approaches’, ILO SEED Working Paper no. 81 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenwick, C.; Novitz, T. (eds) 2010. Human Rights at Work: Perspectives on Law and Regulation (Oxford: Hart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredman, S. 2008. Human Rights Transformed (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Freedland, M. 2003. The Personal Employment Contract (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fudge, J.; Owens, R. (eds). 2006. Precarious Work, Women, and the New Economy: The Challenge to Legal Norms (Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J.J.; Pagés, C. (eds) 2004. Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Høyland, B.; Moene, K.; Willumsen, F. 2009. ‘The tyranny of international index ranking’, unpublished paper, University of Oslo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Independent Evaluation Group (IEG). 2008. Doing Business: An Independent Evaluation (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Office (ILO) 1999. Decent Work (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO. 2004. Economic Security for a Better World (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO. 2008. Global Wage Report 2008/09: Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining — Towards Policy Coherence (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, B. 2007. ‘The impossibility of a perfectly competitive labour market’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 31, pp. 775–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. 2003. ‘Political economy of working time in Korea: tensions in the reduction of working hours,’ paper presented at the 15th Annual Meeting on Socio-Economics, Aix-en-Province, June.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D.; Messenger, J.C. 2007. Working Time Around the World: Trends in Working Hours, Laws and Policies in a Global Comparative Perspective (Abingdon and Geneva: Routledge and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. 2006. ‘Working time capability: towards realizing individual choice’ in Boulin et al.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. 2008. ‘Measuring labour market institutions: conceptual and methodological questions on “working-hour rigidity”’, in Berg, J.; Kucera, D. (eds) In Defence of Labour Market Institutions: Cultivating Justice in the Developing World (Geneva and London: ILO and Palgrave).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D.; Torm, N. 2008. ‘The World Bank’s “employing workers” index: findings and critiques — a review of recent evidence’, International Labour Review, vol. 147, no. 4, pp. 416–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. forthcoming. ‘Negotiating working time in fragmented labour markets’, in Hayter, S. (ed.) The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCann, D. 2008. Regulating Flexible Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, A. 2003. Monopsony in Motion: Imperfect Competition in Labor Markets (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R.; Arup, C. 2006 ‘Labour law and labour market regulation’ in Arup et al.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R.; Gahan, P.G.; Stewart, A.; Cooney, S.; Marshall, S.D. 2010 ‘The evolution of labour law in Australia: Measuring the change’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 61–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortensen, D.; Pissarides, C. 1999. ‘Unemployment responses to “skill-biased” shocks: the role of labour market policy’, Economic Journal, vol. 109, pp. 242–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, J. forthcoming. ‘Continuity and reform: time, money and family life in the structural remodelling of Australian labour law’, International Labour Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, R. 2002. ‘Decent work for the contingent workforce in the new economy’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 209–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piore, M.; Schrank, A. 2008. ‘Towards managed flexibility: the revival of labour inspection in the Latin world’, International Labour Review, vol. 147, no. 1, pp. 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pires, R. 2008. ‘Promoting sustainable compliance: styles of labour inspection and compliance outcomes in Brazil’, International Labour Review, vol. 147, no. 1, pp. 199–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pissarides, C. 2001. ‘Employment protection’, Labour Economics, vol. 8, pp. 131–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pissarides, C. 2010. ‘Why do firms offer “employment protection”?’, Economica, vol. 77, no. 301, pp. 613–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheve, K.; Slaughter, M. 2004. ‘Economic insecurity and the globalization of production’, American Journal of Political Science, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 662–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, G. 2006. ‘Social risk management through transitional labour markets’, Socio-Economic Review, vol. 4, pp. 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G. 1999. Global Labour Flexibility: Seeking Distributive Justice (London and New York: Macmillan Press/St Martin’s Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Storm, S.; Naastepad, C. 2007. ‘Why labour market regulation may pay off: worker motivation, co-ordination and productivity growth’, ILO Economic and Labour Market Paper 2007/4 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Streeck, W. 1997. ‘Beneficial constraints: on the economic limits of rational voluntarism’, in Hollingsworth, J.R.; Boyer, R. (eds) Contemporary Capitalism: The Embeddedness of Institutions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Streeck, W. 2004. ‘Educating capitalists: a rejoinder to Wright and Tsakalotos’, Socio-Economic Review, vol. 2, pp. 425–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vosko, L. (ed.). 2000. Precarious Employment: Understanding Labour Market Insecurity in Canada (Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2009a. Doing Business 2010 (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2009b. Revisions to the EWI Indicator. Available at http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/EWI_revisions.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, E. 2004. ‘Beneficial constraints: beneficial for whom?’, Socio-Economic Review, vol. 2, pp. 407–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2011 International Labour Organization

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lee, S., McCann, D. (2011). New Directions in Labour Regulation Research. In: Lee, S., McCann, D. (eds) Regulating for Decent Work. Advances in Labour Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230307834_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics