Deregulation of the system of pay determination in Britain was started in 1979 with the removal of incomes policy. The objective was to give employers the freedom to determine wage increases without the restrictions of pay norms or statutory limits. Instead, companies would be able to link changes in pay to the fortunes of the individual enterprise or establishment. By the mid-1990s, had these attempts to decentralize wage negotiations changed the determinants of wage settlement outcomes in Britain? We address the in¯uence of industrial relations institutions and labour market pressures on wage increases between 1979 and 1994 using evidence from the CBI's Pay Databank. Despite the direction of the Conservative Government's policy, the external institutional forces of the labour market, particularly the rate of in¯ation and comparability, appear to exert an enduring in¯uence, both qualitatively and quantitatively, on pay determination.

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Drinkwater S. and Ingram P. How different are the British in their willingness to move? Evidence from international social survey data, Regional Studies. This paper analyses people's willingness to move using data from the 1995 British Social Attitudes Survey and International Social Survey Programme. The personal characteristics and sub-regional indicators that are important in explaining the willingness to move within Britain are identified. It is also found that the willingness to move is only higher in a few other countries, including the USA. The equivalent desire to move is found to be much lower in Eastern European countries and in several other European Union Member States. Compositional effects, such as age and education, are generally important in explaining differences in attitudes towards migration in comparison with other Western economies. However, structural effects such as institutions, history, and culture tend to play a more dominant role in explaining differences compared with countries in Central and Eastern Europe. [image omitted] Drinkwater S. et Ingram P. Les differences entre les britanniques dans leur consentement a la mobilite. Resultats d'une enquete sociale internationale, Regional Studies. Nous analysons le consentement a la mobilite des Britanniques en utilisant les donnees d'une enquete sur les comportements sociaux des Britanniques et d'une enquete sociale internationale de 1995. Nous identifions les caracteristiques personnelles et les indicateurs subregionaux qui sont importants pour expliquer le consentement a la mobilite en Grande-Bretagne. Nous constatons egalement que le consentement a la mobilite n'est superieur que dans un petit nombre de pays, notamment les Etats-Unis. Le desir equivalent de mobilite est beaucoup moins important dans les pays d'Europe orientale et dans plusieurs Etats membres de l'Union europeenne. Les effets de la composition, comme l'age et l'education, sont generalement importants pour expliquer les differences de comportement envers la migration, en comparaison avec d'autres economies occidentales. Toutefois, des effets de structure comme les institutions, l'histoire et la culture ont tendance a jouer un role plus important pour expliquer les differences comparees avec des pays d'Europe centrale et orientale. Grande-Bretagne Consentement a la mobilite Differences internationales Microdonnees Drinkwater S. und Ingram P. Wie unterschiedlich fallt die Umzugsbereitschaft unter den Briten aus? Belege aus dem International Social Survey, Regional Studies. In unserem Beitrag analysieren wir die Umzugsbereitschaft anhand von Daten aus dem British Social Attitudes Survey und dem International Social Survey Programme von 1995. Wir identifizieren die personlichen Merkmale und subregionalen Indikatoren, die zur Erlauterung der Umzugsbereitschaft innerhalb von Grossbritannien von Bedeutung sind. Ebenso stellen wir fest, dass die Umzugsbereitschaft nur in wenigen Landern (darunter den USA) hoher ausfallt. Die entsprechende Umzugsbereitschaft liegt in osteuropaischen...

We examine representative, group-level wage settlement data to augment the debate on nominal pay rigidity in Britain. We investigate the characteristics of groups that settle at zero and the role of within-firm and external influences. Nominal settlement cuts are rare. Zero nominal wage settlements are more common, but still relatively unusual, highest during (low-inflation) recessionary periods. Small groups, above all firms under duress, appear most likely to settle at zero. Once a group settles at zero it is unlikely to do so again in the short run. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2004.

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