This article uses the German case as the main point
of reference for exploring the new dynamics of labor politics
in northern Europe in a changing global economy. In contrast to
the prevailing wisdom that employers are strengthened by increased
capital mobility, we argue that globalization renders employers
more vulnerable to labor's demands. The introduction of tightly
coupled, often cross-national, production networks and the demands
of producing at high quality on a just-in-time basis, increases
the cost of industrial conflict and undermines employers' solidarity
in collective bargaining. We show that employers' increased vulnerability
to industrial strife contributes to the stability of collective
bargaining arrangements in the short run but erodes the industrial
relations system in the long run. As a result, unions are able
to extract important concessions but they face a dilemma between
broad coverage of collective contracts or wage gains as more employers
will defect from the centrally agreed collective bargain.
Kathleen Thelen, Department
of Political Science, Northwestern University Christa van Wijnbergen, Graduate fellow,
Department of Political Science, Northwestern University
Click on
the working paper title at the top of this
page to download a free pdf of the paper.*
If You Need to Order a Hard Copy: Hard copies
of IPR working papers cost $5.00 each (international orders are $10 each). We only accept checks drawn on U.S. bank and payable in U.S. funds. Checks or money orders should be made
payable to Northwestern University and sent to the following address:
Publications Department - WP Orders
Institute for Policy Research
2040 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-4100.
For information, call 847-491-8712 or email ipr@northwestern.edu.
Please note that we do not accept credit cards.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 (or higher) is needed to read the Acrobat pdf.
If you need to install Acrobat Reader, click the button below. Once the file
has downloaded onto your desktop, run it to install the reader on your hard
drive.
