Transformation of Employment Relations Systems in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

D uring the 1990s, employment relations systems in Central and Eastern Europe experienced a complex, multilevel process of transformation. In the present paper, we discuss the transformation of employment relations systems under the impact of privatization, foreign direct investment, and pressures for the accession to the European Union enlargement at the enterprise, industry, and national levels. We argue that the pattern of embeddedness of employment relations in the former planned economic system, the developmental role of the state during the period of transition and the timing of the changes at a moment of intensified international competition resulted in unique configurations of employment relations in the different Central and Eastern European countries, not necessarily converging towards the incremental adjustments of Western European employment relations.

Comparative and International Corporate Governance

“…Of course, changes in governance practices were accompanied by diverse degrees of foreign openness and socially constructed justifications for and against foreign direct investment (Bandelj, 2008). These resulted in models of post-socialist economic organization reflected not only in their firms' ownership structure following different methods of privatization (Stark & Bruszt, 1998), but also in their industrial relations systems (Aguilera & Dabu, 2005).…”

Corporate Governance and Director Accountability: an Institutional Comparative Perspective*

“…The transition to market economies in Eastern and Central Europe is an excellent laboratory to analyse the diffusion and innovation of corporate governance practices (Aguilera and Dabu, 2005;Federowicz and Aguilera, 2003) in that region as well as in other emerging markets (Peng, 2004;Peng, Buck and Filatotchev, 2003). The distribution of firm value and corporate control, given the limited resources of the firm, is highly political and is coupled with cognitive maps of what to expect from the firm (Fiss and Zajac, Corporate Governance and Director Accountability S41 2004) and of national institutional characteristics (Aguilera and Jackson, 2003;Aguilera and Yip, 2004).…”

Shadows of the Past

“…Works councils, for example, have a long history in WE countries, while they have only been introduced in many CEE countries (exceptions are Yugoslavia [Singh et al 2007] and Poland [Burda et al 1993]) as a result of the Soviet Union's 1987 law on state enterprises (Van den Berg 1990). Even if other types of institutionalized forms of employee representation in CEE countries developed after 1990 (e.g., Sindikalni zaupnik in Slovenia), we argue that ambiguity concerning the form and function of these bodies diminishes the overall positive effect on the consultation of employees (Thompson and Smith 1992;Aguilera and Dabu 2005). In CEE countries, the institution of works councils and their power are likely to be taken less for granted and may frequently be regarded as window-dressing activities rather than as effective employee participation (Ost 2001).…”