All of one kind? Labour market reforms under austerity in Italy and Spain

Abstract

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in SocioEconomic Review following peer review. The version of Picot, Georg and Tassinari, Arianna. (2017) All of one kind? Labour market reforms under austerity in Italy and Spain. SocioEconomic Review, 15 (2). pp. 461-482.

Employment Institutions under Liberalization Pressures: Analysing the Effects of Regulatory Change on Collective Bargaining in Spain

“…The existing literature has characterized the regulatory change in Spain as change towards disorganized decentralization and liberalization of collective bargaining (Marginson et al . 2014; Meardi ; Picot and Tassinari ) and our findings corroborate that the outcomes in terms of salaries after the reforms show a similar trend to the ones of the market‐led model of the UK. However, this article provides further knowledge by demonstrating that these trends happened in a model that mantains high rates of collective bargaining coverage and the prevalence of multi‐employer agreements.…”

State‐led wage devaluation in Southern Europe in the wake of the Eurozone crisis

“…Finally, it is also unsatisfactory to simply explain differences by the presence or absence of an adjustment programme by EU institutions, especially if one considers the similarities between Spain and Portugal in the type of measures put in place to achieve devaluation, and the difference between Spain and Italy. Picot and Tassinari (2017) show, for instance, that reforms have been much more farreaching in Spain than in Italy, pointing to the diverging influence of the centre-left as the main explanation for deregulation in the former and embedded flexibilisation in the latter. I follow these authors in assuming that we need to have a more differentiated approach to understand national patterns of adjustment.…”

“…Picot and Tassinari () show, for instance, that reforms have been much more far‐reaching in Spain than in Italy, pointing to the diverging influence of the centre‐left as the main explanation for deregulation in the former and embedded flexibilisation in the latter. I follow these authors in assuming that we need to have a more differentiated approach to understand national patterns of adjustment.…”

“…Italy stands apart from the other cases analysed here because of the absence of internal devaluation achieved during the crisis. While the differences in political preferences play a non‐negligible role (Picot & Tassinari ), the instruments available to the government to influence wage‐setting were limited, even if the level of external pressure was fairly comparable to Spain…”

“…In Southern Europe, the years that followed the outbreak of the Eurozone crisis have seen substantial changes in economic conditions and the regulation of labour markets (Armingeon & Baccaro , b; Zartaloudis ; Picot & Tassinari ). In Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, the crisis resulted in a massive increase in unemployment and a quick deterioration of public budgets that triggered wide‐ranging measures of cost‐containment.…”