From the’ sick Man’to the ‘Overhauled Engine’ of Europe? Upheaval in the German Model

The making of the German minimum wage: a case study of institutional change

“…Institutional change in industrial relations, with its particularly dynamic 'force field', is now a mainstream topic in the more recent institutional theories, so that we are well equipped to analyse the various forms of deregulation and incremental erosion of institutions. However, we are much less well equipped to analyse institutional innovations in the opposite direction, probably because over the last two decades there have been very few encouraging examples of inclusive labour market institutions being built up or strengthened (Lehndorff et al, 2009). In this case, we have to go back to the origins of institutions.…”

Sectors or countries? Typologies and levels of analysis in comparative industrial relations

“…telecommunications, services) industrial relations correspond to the German national model at all (Batt et al, 2010;Doellgast, 2009;Royle, 2004). Sectoral shifts in employment, in turn, may lead these sector differences to transform the German system as a whole (Lehndorff et al, 2009). Subsequently, comparative research has also started to look at the sector with more attention (e.g.…”

Islands in the stream? The challenges and resilience of the Danish industrial relations model in a liberalising world

“…However, should the IR system become undermined in various ways by some of the challenges identified in this article, this might be highly challenging for the overall social model, and the consequences could be dramatic social changes as seen in Germany (Lehndorff et al ., ). Hence, a highly regulated labour market with high union power resources, consensual practices and a coherent institutional setting can reduce risks of labour market dualisation spilling over into other policy areas.…”

“…Labour market developments and broader welfare developments are closely aligned Dølvik and Martin, 2015;Esping-Andersen, 1990), and labour market changes may spill over into changes in social policies, as it has happened in Germany, where dualisation has increased with strong implications for society at large in terms of in-work poverty and inequality (Eichhorst, 2015;Lehndorff et al, 2009). To protect workers from the impacts of these changes, a minimum wage has been implemented, which has affected the dynamics in the IR model by, for example, undermining the German 'Tarif-autonomie'.…”