Hernandez, B J (2012) Erosion of German industrial relations? Evidence from the metalworking, chemicals and construction sectors. PhD thesis, City University of New York, USA.
Abstract
Germany is once again the economic powerhouse of Europe and the Eurozone. The German Model of industrial relations with respect to collective bargaining and how firms set wages is called a coordinated market economy. Conventional wisdom holds however that Germany's coordinated market economy is eroding as a result of pressures to decentralize wage setting to firm level, because it is thought that by doing so, firms will be better suited to compete in the globalized economy. In other words, the German Model, specifically the way wages are set in manufacturing may be converging to a liberalized model like we have in the United States. Unlike most studies on German labor relations, this dissertation looks beyond the metalworking sector to include two other industries, chemicals and construction, in order to provide a more fine-grained analysis of the state and trajectory of German industrial relations. The main argument put forth in this dissertation is that decentralization varies across sectors; that decentralized bargaining is not eroding the German model; and that unions and employer associations, as social partners, remain committed to the collective contract.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Bowman, J R |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Europe; Germany; United States; employer; industrial relations; manufacturing; market; wages |
| Index terms: | construction sector, evidence, Germany, wages, United States, labour relation, dissertation, bargaining, decentralization, Europe, industrial relation |
| Subjects: | political science, industry analysis, economics, psychology, research dissemination and communication, evaluation and assessment methods, business economics, Geography, physical geography and landforms |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Governance, Supply Chain Management, Geographical Context |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here