How have employment relations evolved over the last decade? And how did workplaces and employees fare in the face of the longest recession in living memory? Employment Relations in the Shadow of Recession examines the state of British employment relations in 2011, how this has changed since 2004, and the role the recession played in shaping employees' experiences of work. It draws on findings from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study, comparing these with the results of the previous study conducted in 2004. These surveys - each collecting responses from around 2,500 workplace managers, 1,000 employee representatives and over 20,000 employees - provide the most comprehensive portrait available of workplace employment relations in Britain. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the changes made to employment practices through the recession and of the impact that the economic downturn had on the shape and character of the employment relationship.

This comprehensive study provides a perceptive portrait of workplace employment relations in Britain and France using comparable data from two large-scale surveys: the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) and the French Enquete Relations Professionnelles et Negociations d'Entreprise (REPONSE). These extensive linked employer-employee surveys provide nationally-representative data on private sector employment relations in all but the smallest workplaces, and offer a unique opportunity to compare and contrast workplace employment relations under two very different employment regimes. An insightful read for all academics and students of employment, the findings also have implications for practitioners and policy-makers keen to identify and promote "best practice".

Based on the primary analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), this is the fifth book in the series which began in 1980, and which is considered to be one of the most authoritative sources of information on employment relations in Great Britain. Interviews were conducted with managers and employee representatives in over 3,000 workplaces, and over 20,000 employees returned a self-completion questionnaire. This survey links the views from these three parties, providing a truly integrated picture of employment relations. This book provides a descriptive mapping of employment relations, examining the principal features of the structures, practices and outcomes of workplace employment relations. The reader can explore differences according to the characteristics of the workplace and organization, including workplace size, industrial sector and ownership. Current debates are examined in detail, including an assessment of the impact of the Labour Government's programme of employment relations reform. A key reference from a respected and important institution, this book is a valuable 'sourcebook' for students, academics and practitioners in the fields of employee relations, human resource management, organizational behaviour and sociology. Visit the Companion website at http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/0415378133/

This volume includes theoretical and empirical research into changing institutions and employee participation. Topics covered in this title include: the experience with employee ownership in relation to the fast change of institutions in transitional countries including those in Eastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union, and China; the influence of the specific institutional setting on development; e.g. for the Mondragon Group of coops or the Italian Cooperative Associations, development as affected both by the institutional structure within the group and the surrounding institutions; and, the influence of legislation in different countries of conditions for the development of different types of employee participation. It includes: the re-shaping of the role of the employees as company stakeholders and the impact of these changes on employee motivation, effort and productivity; the impact of new employee incentive schemes, reward structures or other incentive mechanisms (if any) on firm productivity and financial performance; evidence of the implementation and effects of the 'employee share-ownership education'; and, the impact of different informal institutions (culture) on the development and performance of different forms of employee participation.

Have configurations of labour-management practices become embedded in the British economy? Did the dramatic decline in trade union representation in the 1980s continue throughout the 1990s, leaving more employees without a voice? Were the vestiges of union organization at the workplace a hollow shell? These and other contemporary issues of employee relations are addressed in this report. The book reports the results from the series of workplace surveys conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Economic and Social Research Council, The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and the Policy Studies Institute. Its focus is on change, captured by gathering together the enormous bank of data from all four of the large-scale and highly respected surveys, and plotting trends from 1980 to 1999. In addition, a special panel of workplaces, surveyed in both 1990 and 1998, reveals the complex processes of change.;Comprehensive in scope, the results are statistically reliable and reveal the nature and extent of change in all bar the smallest British workplaces.

Have configurations of labour-management practices become embedded in the British economy? Did the dramatic decline in trade union representation in the 1980s continue throughout the 1990s, leaving more employees without a voice? Were the vestiges of union organization at the workplace a hollow shell? These and other contemporary issues of employee relations are addressed in this report. The book reports the results from the series of workplace surveys conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Economic and Social Research Council, The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and the Policy Studies Institute. Its focus is on change, captured by gathering together the enormous bank of data from all four of the large-scale and highly respected surveys, and plotting trends from 1980 to 1999. In addition, a special panel of workplaces, surveyed in both 1990 and 1998, reveals the complex processes of change.;Comprehensive in scope, the results are statistically reliable and reveal the nature and extent of change in all bar the smallest British workplaces.

With the financial crisis and Great Recession, some economists have begun to question the orthodox approach to production and capital/labor relations over the last two to three decades. This orthodoxy has been thrown into question due to concerns of poor corporate decision-making, corporate capture of regulators, perceived rewards for failure, and uneven productivity growth. But a new spirit of introspection and doubt about orthodox approaches has created some impetus leading to greater interest in themes, such as worker ownership, sharing rewards, co-operatives, and employee involvement practices which feature heavily in the "Advances" series. This "new spirit" is apparent for all to see in the 12 contributions to this volume of "Advances" which cover co-operatives; effects of worker participation on firm performance; the diffusion of high involvement management practices; and outcomes for workers (i.e., job satisfaction and wages).

This 12th edition of "Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor-Managed Firms" contains a stimulating collection of original papers spanning a wide variety of topics. Part 1 of the volume contains three papers on the subject of job design and organizational performance, covering the determinants of multiskilling from a theoretical perspective and also the empirical effect of multiskilling and teams on financial performance. Part 2 of the volume concerns compensation, worker attitudes, and productivity. Papers in this section cover the effect of rules and costs on employer-provided health insurance, majority ownership and executive compensation, worker attitudes towards different forms of employee ownership and variable pay, and an analysis of performance-related pay, unions, and productivity in Italy. Part 3 contains three studies of worker cooperatives and nonprofit organizations in Italy, Spain, and Uruguay. This volume concludes with a debate on free trade and the ecological effects of alternative socio-economic systems.

The last thirty years have seen the world of work transformed in Britain. Manufacturing and nationalized industries contracted and private services expanded. Employment became more diverse. Trade union membership collapsed. Collective bargaining disappeared from much of the private sector, as did strikes. This was accompanied by the rise of human resource management and new employment practices. The law, once largely absent, increasingly became a dominant influence. The experience of work has become more pressured. The Evolution of the Modern Workplace provides an authoritative account and analysis of these changes and their consequences. Its main source is the five Workplace Employment Relations Surveys that were conducted at roughly five-year intervals between 1980 and 2004. Drawing on this unique source of data, a team of internationally renowned scholars show how the world of the workplace has changed, and why it has changed, for both workers and employers.

The last twenty-five years have seen the world of work transformed in Britain. Manufacturing and nationalized industries contracted and private services expanded. Employment became more diverse. Trade union membership collapsed. Collective bargaining disappeared from much of the private sector, as did strikes. This was accompanied by the rise of human resource management and new employment practices. The law, once largely absent, increasingly became a dominant influence. The experience of work has become more pressured. The Evolution of the Modern Workplace, first published in 2009, provides an authoritative account and analysis of these changes and their consequences. Its main source is the five Workplace Employment Relations Surveys that were conducted at roughly five-year intervals between 1980 and 2004. Drawing on this unique source of data, a team of internationally renowned scholars show how the world of the workplace has changed, and why it has changed, for both workers and employers.

The 2008 financial crisis put an end to an era of sustained economic growth in Europe. The size of the shock differed across European countries and affected economies in different ways. Yet despite this heterogeneity, most European countries suffered a prolonged period of economic slowdown which raised concerns about the risk of a secular stagnation in Europe. This book focuses on labour productivity in Europe, one of the main drivers of growth and prosperity. Although productivity trends became the focus of policy interest in the immediate aftermath of the recession in the UK, 'productivity puzzles' received much less attention in the rest of Europe. These 'puzzles', which are apparent to greater or lesser extents in most European economies, centre on the marked decline in labour productivity growth which occurred with the on-set of recession. They are puzzles because, in neo-classical economics, firms respond to demand shocks by laying off workers, thus maintaining labour productivity and limiting growth in unit labour costs. Yet this didn't happen in this recession - at least, not to the same extent as in previous recessions, except in Spain. This book brings together contributions from leading European economists who analyse production models and macroeconomic policies, with specific focus on European countries that represent around 60% of the EU GDP. Chapters on France, Germany, the UK, and Spain provide new evidences at the firm/workplace level, and stress the role of transitory labour market mechanisms