Last trends on collective bargaining decentralization

Decentralisation of collective bargaining has been one of the key trends concerning labour market regulation of the last decades. Most of European countries have developed – with different breath and scope – procedures and reforms to strengthen the company level of bargaining. The Great Recession has stressed this orientation, particularly in those countries which were under financial pressure. This paper focuses on the cases of four Mediterranean countries – France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – in order to assess how decentralisation has been carried out and, most importantly, what kind of practical results have been achieved. On the base of these outcomes, it highlights how the debate concerning the structure ofcollective bargaining is changing from a black or white perspective to a new one in which mixed models are possible if the whole system is coordinated, taking into consideration the type of collective bargaining model set in the country.

Criminalisation as a response to low wages and labour market exploitation in Sweden

It is hard to determine when adverse labour conditions become exploitation. As of July 1, 2018, ‘human exploitation’ is criminalised in Sweden, with penalties up to ten years prison. The crime of ‘human exploitation’ occurs when someone, through unlawful coercion, misleads, exploits another person’s position of dependence, lack of protection, or difficult situation, or exploits another person in forced labour, work under obviously unreasonable conditions or begging. This article describes how disputes concerning low wages are to be handled within the Swedish model for labour market regulation, and contrasts this with the novel crime that adds a criminal law element to this otherwise civil law-oriented model.

Labour Market Regulation and Youth Unemployment in the EU-28

The rise of youth unemployment has been one of the most serious problems which policymakers have had to deal with over the last two decades. Neoclassical economic theory suggests that the deregulation (i.e. higher flexibility) of the labour market stimulates firms to hire young people and—therefore—reduces youth unemployment. The aim of this study is to empirically test the validity of this hypothesis, analysing data on youth unemployment and labour market regulation index (LMRI) for 28 European countries in the period between 2000 and 2018. The empirical results—using two different econometric techniques (time and fixed effects that allows to take into account the presence of heterogeneity of countries in the model and pooling mean group (PMG) estimator providing results about the short and long run relationship between LMRI and youth unemployment)—do not provide evidence in support of the neoclassical hypothesis. In particular, the effect of higher flexibility of the labour market is negative and statistically significant (at 1%) only when a dummy variable for the Eastern country group is included in the model. Vice-versa, the paper shows that higher economic growth and higher investment in active labour market policy represent the key variables to reduce the youth unemployment. In conclusion, the paper raises many doubts that the introduction of flexibility measures in itself can represent a useful tool to counteract the increase of youth unemployment in Europe.

ACCENTS OF WORK OF ADVISORY SERVICES IN THE CONDITIONS OF LABOUR MARKET TRANSFORMATION

Purpose. The aim of the article is determining the emphasis of the work of the advisory services in the transformation of the labour market. Methodology of research. The methodical basis of the research consists of methods of comparison, economic analysis and generalization. Using the method of comparison, the assessment of individual mechanisms and characteristics of labour market regulation and the use of advisory support with that was carried out. The method of economic analysis was used to determine the characteristics of structural changes in the labour market of Ukraine between types of economic activity over the years. Based on the generalization method, the four most typical models of labour market regulation and their respective advisory support have been presented. Findings. The role of the labour market in ensuring the economic development of the state is defined. The role can be generalized as a set of economic relations in balancing supply and demand for labour, which results is in the exchange of labour for wages. The main trends in the structural change in the types of economic activities in the labour market in Ukraine during 2012-2020 were established. Wherein, among the main results, we can note the absolute and relative reduction of the total employed population and for each type of economic activity. The four most typical models of labour market regulation in the world have been described: German (Western European), Swedish (Scandinavian), Japanese and American (Anglo-Saxon) and the emphasis of the advisory services on the selected models of labour market transformation have been determined. Originality. The substantive characteristics of four selected models of labour market regulation and their inherent mechanisms of advisory support have been presented: German (Western European), Swedish (Scandinavian), Japanese and American (Anglo-Saxon). This, in contrast to the existing one, allows of their differentiated use in the process of preparing more grounded management decisions to solve this problem. Practical value. The results of the study can be used in the process of preparation of strategic and program documents on advisory support for employment and labour market regulation. The effect of their implementation can be assessed by indicators of output and income based on a particular territorial entity. Key words: labour market, models of labour market regulation, advisory support of labour market regulation, market transformation, social efficiency.

CONCEPTUAL BASES OF IMPROVING THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND ECONOMIC MECHANISM OF STATE LABOR MARKET REGULATION IN RURAL AREAS

Introduction. In Ukraine, it is important to form a national labour market based on sectoral economic characteristics, strategic goals of sectoral transformation and taking into account international experience and models of this market regulation, including the labor market in rural areas. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to substantiate the conceptual foundations for improving the organizational and economic mechanism of state regulation of the labor market in rural areas. Methods: In disclosing the subject of the research, the theoretical basis of the article was a dialectical method of cognition and a systematic method for studying the components of improving the organizational and economic mechanism of state regulation of the labour market in rural areas. The study used general scientific methods of cognition, namely: methods of analysis, synthesis, analogies are used to identify elements of improving the organizational and economic mechanism of state regulation of the labor market in rural areas; the method of generalization to form the conclusions of the study. Results. The starting points and the reference point of labour market regulation in rural areas are determined, the results of the SWOT-analysis of its regulation are presented, and priority goals of labour market regulation in rural areas have been identified. The conceptual scheme of improvement of the organizational and economic mechanism of the state regulation of the labor market in rural areas is substantiated. More expedient at the current stage of reform, mechanisms of supply and demand at the labour market are substantiated according to four defined priority goals. Discussion for further research are to agree on the stages and organizational and economic mechanisms of state regulation of the labour market in rural areas in the context of the implementation of four identified priority goals of labour market regulation. Keywords: conceptual bases, improvements, labour market, rural area, state regulation, organizational and economic mechanism.

A Feminist Political Economy Critique of ‘the Militant Minority’

Recent growth in strike activity in the United States and Canada has motivated a broad scholarship on union organizing and labour movement revitalization. However, researchers and activists particularly concerned with the role of member mobilization in union renewal have downplayed institutional changes to labour law and regulation which might address the decline of union density and worker power. This commentary offers a feminist political economy critique of recent works on ‘the rank and file strategy’ and ‘the militant minority’ by arguing that greater focus should be devoted to how North American labour law and decentralized bargaining continue to impede union renewal. The article briefly traces the gendered legacy of ‘Wagnerism’ and the latter’s growing incompatibility with contemporary workplaces and forms of employment. It then makes the case for thinking through how organizing could also push for labour law reform, particularly towards broader-based, sectoral forms of collective bargaining and labour market regulation.

The Russian socio-economic system: realities and vectors of development

The monograph reveals the System as a way of development of Russian society, as the balance of the whole and the parts at the macro-, meso - and micro-level, mathematical modeling of the System, freedom and justice, man as a factor of production human capital institutional framework for the development of Russian Systems of state and market regulation, improve planning and forecasting, digitalization, political institutions, social functions of the state, social capital, social trend, demography and family, motivation, labour and entrepreneurship, the institutions of labour market regulation, sustainable and dynamic development of the Russian System in the context of globalization. Of interest to researchers and practitioners, teachers, graduate students of economic specialties.

Labour market policy under the new European economic governance: France in the focus of the new European labour market policy

The article examined the influence of the European crisis politics on French labour market regulation. The European crisis management has resulted in institutionalised interventionism, that restraint the European Union member states’ ability to regulate her national labour markets. France was less affected by the crisis but it was also in the focus of the European interventionism. On the basis of the labour market reforms ‘Loi Macron’ and ‘Loi El Khomri’, the article investigates what role the European institutions play and how big was the influence of the European Union in the national negotiation process.