Institutional Dynamics in European Industrial Relations

Abstract

Since the end of the 1970s, all European systems of industrial relations have experienced some common developments. In order to shed some light on this subject we look for common as well as specific changes within some selected systems of industrial relations in Europe. Therefore, we deal with the moving forces behind these tendencies which are, on the whole, global in character. We discuss the institutional responses to these general developments in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. These countries have been chosen because their industrial relations are generally seen as belonging to different types of systems.We conclude that many responses are still national specific and, in line with the distinguished national logics of collective action, to be defined respectively as the logic of contract, the logic of opposition and the logic of cooperation. At the end some reflections about the future of European industrial relations are presented.

Developments and prospects of profit-sharing and employee share ownership in Europe

“…The differences also influence the discretion of management in the development of financial participation systems in their companies. These systems allow for certain operational logics of the social partners in the different countries (Nagelkerke and De Nijs 1998). For example, it might be expected that in countries with a more voluntaristic industrial relations system, financial participation would be more common.…”