The economic significance of laws relating to employment protection and different forms of employment: Analysis of a panel of 117 countries, 1990–2013

Adams, Zoe; Bishop, Louise; Deakin, Simon; Fenwick, Colin; Garzelli, Sara Martinsson; Rusconi, Giudy

doi:10.1111/ilr.12128

Cited by 27 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…Codetermination opens a second channel for voice at work. 21 Co-determination also generally leads to lower rates of strikes, improved productivity, and greater innovation (Acharya et al, 2013 on the Centre for Business Research's (2016) Labour Regulation Index; Adams et al, 2019). The right to vote is the vanguard of enterprise, fair wages, and pensions.…”

Section: Escalating Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable pensions, democratic governance, and EU law

McGaughey

2021

European Journal of Social Security

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The quality of democracy in our economy depends on the governance of capital, but Europeans are still deprived of real voice over their retirement money: the single biggest source of capital in the 21st century. This paper outlines three major problems facing EU pensions: precarious retirement, escalating inequality, and mounting climate damage. These problems start with the places where we work, the institutions that control our retirement savings, and the votes on shares that come with them. The central argument is that pensions will only be sustainable once they are democratically, prudently, and loyally governed. First, member states have wide experience with co-determination in capital funds, which can inform the basis of minimum standards in EU law for ‘pension fund democracy’. Second, a growing number of investment rules draw upon Member States’ fiduciary duties and standards for prudence or care; but, these do not yet codify the requirement that beneficiaries’ environmental, social, and governance preferences are followed. Third, votes on shares - bought with pension fund assets - are still being cast by banks and asset managers who manage ‘other people’s money’. This is a serious problem because banks and asset managers have interests that systematically conflict with the ultimate investors: they vote in companies on other people’s money and, at the same time, sell financial products (e.g., pensions) to those companies. The problems are soluble with careful amendments to existing policy that ensure elected representatives of pension beneficiaries are the sole determinants of voting policies, with prudence and no conflicts of interest. A draft EU Directive, based upon emerging best practice, is proposed.

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Section: Escalating Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable pensions, democratic governance, and EU law

McGaughey

2021

European Journal of Social Security

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“…Focusing on the impact of labour market reforms on income distribution and inequality, a growing number of studies have focused on the effects generated on income inequality by reforms in the employment protection legislation approved since the eighties decade. In this sense, there is a general consensus that the reforms that have made the labour market more flexible have had a negative impact on income inequality; in particular on the size of labour and wage shares (Tridico 2017;Brancaccio, Garbellini, and Giammetti 2018;Ciminelli, Duval, and Furceri 2018;Dosi et al 2018;OECD 2018;Zoe Adams et al 2019;Daniela Bellani and Giulio Bosio 2019;Siyan Chen and Saul Desiderio 2019;Arestis, Ferreiro, and Gómez 2020a).…”

Section: Labour Flexibility and Income Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour market flexibilization and income distribution in Europe

2021

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This paper analyses the role played by the flexibilization of labour markets on functional income distribution. Specifically, we analyse whether employment protection legislation affects the evolution of labour income share, measured by the size of compensation of employees as a percentage of GDP, the sum of wages and salaries as a percentage of GDP and the size of the adjusted wage share, in twenty European economies. Our study?s results show that the evolution of labour income share is explained by the economic growth, the growth of employment and unemployment rates, and the growth of real wages. Regarding the role played by the flexibility of the labour market, and specifically of the employment protection legislation, only employment protection for temporary workers has a significant impact on the evolution of labour shares. Our results show that stricter provisions on the use of fixed-term and temporary agency contracts have a positive impact on the growth of labour shares.

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“…145 Preliminary results show a positive link between codetermination rights and improvements in productivity, employment, and equality. 146 Further research based upon a new database of International Monetary Fund conditionality and structural adjustment programmes suggests a strong link between privatisation and corruption. 147 The shortcoming is that such empirical evidence can be contested on the basis that correlation amounts to causation: of course it does not.…”

Section: The Evidence Supports a More Democratic Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Democracy in the 21st Century: The Vote in Labour, Capital and Public Services

McGaughey

2019

SSRN Journal

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How should power be shared in the economy? This article offers a framework, and three models, for making choices about the economy's main legal institutions: for property in capital, the obligations related to work, and organisation of corporate persons. An authoritarian economic model entails financial institution or director control of capital; a duty to work and state control of unions; and the principle of 'leadership'. A neo-liberal model advocates individual capital ownership including employee share schemes; individual 'freedom' of contract and privatised unions; and information and consultation as the limits of voice. A democratic model advocates diverse share ownership through pensions, wealth funds, and public bodies; collective bargaining and independent unions; and codetermination for workers and citizens based on one-person, one vote. Most countries have an unsettled mixture of these models. The UK, Germany, and the US are analysed as case studies, and empirical evidence is summarised which suggests that a more democratic economy enables greater human development. Because reason and evidence will remain the basis for public policy and debate, it seems economic democracy in the 21 st century will swiftly become reality.

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The economic significance of laws relating to employment protection and different forms of employment: Analysis of a panel of 117 countries, 1990–2013

Cited by 27 publications

References 40 publications

Sustainable pensions, democratic governance, and EU law

Sustainable pensions, democratic governance, and EU law

Labour market flexibilization and income distribution in Europe

Economic Democracy in the 21st Century: The Vote in Labour, Capital and Public Services

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