90899 - Comparative Labour Market Policies

Academic Year 2020/2021

  • Docente: Roberto Rizza
  • Credits: 8
  • SSD: SPS/09
  • Language: English

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an overview of labor market policies, highlighting the main areas of intervention and the beneficiaries: employment protection legislation, income support, promotion of job opportunities and training, employment services. A comparative analysis of the evolution of labor policy regimes will be carried out with particular reference to current demographic, social and economic challenges, considering the influence of politics on labor market policies. At the end of the course the students will be able to: - have a knowledge of the main areas of intervention of labor market policies and their beneficiaries - identify and compare the different labor policy regimes - gain an expertise as regards to the definition and planning of active and passive labor market policies - recognize the current characteristics of the labor market and the employment system, the emerging risks and the related needs in terms of labor market policies - interpret the influence of politics in labor market policies

Course contents

The course is organized with a part of lectures taught online on MS TEAMS (20 hours) and another taught in presence (20 hours). The number of students allowed in class is determined on the basis of class capacity and by the health and safety provisions that deal with the pandemic emergency. In case more students want to attend classes in presence than permitted by the rules, a system of shifts will be organized so to allow students to participate. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

The course is divided in two parts: 1) industrial relations and  2) labour market policies, adopting a comparative and interdisciplinary approach. 

1) Industrial Relations (20 hours - Prof. Oscar Molina)

The aim of this part of the course is to provide an overview of the main developments in industrial relations and the factors explaining them. The first section of the course provides an introduction to the comparative dimensions and analysis of industrial relations. The second section discusses the role of trade unions, membership trends and renewal strategies. A third section analyses the role of employer organisations in the context of varieties of capitalism theories. The fourth section discusses trends in collective bargaining structures and systems in the context of the convergence / divergence debate and the increase in inequalities.

2) Labour market policies (20 hours - Prof. Roberto Rizza)

A first section is descriptive and provides information on labour market policies (definition, programs, analytical dimensions), a second depicts their evolution interpreting the emerging regimes in the vast international panorama. An explanatory third dimension identifies the causal mechanisms of institutional change.

The course will address the following topics:

- Labour market policies: definition, characteristics and comparative aspects

- Labour market policies: programs

- Labour market policies in Europe and the United States: from the origins till the 1990s

- The emerging regimes of labour market policies in the 2000s

Readings/Bibliography

Comparative Industrial Relations; Dimensions, Perspectives and Theories

Required readings:

Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Meardi, G. (2012). Sectors or countries? Typologies and levels of analysis in comparative industrial relations. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 18(3), 185-202.

Kaufman, B. E. (2011). Comparative employment relations: Institutional and neo-institutional theories. In Barry, M. and Wilkinson, A. (eds) Research handbook of comparative employment relations, Edward Elgar 25-55.

Locke, R., Kochan, T., &Piore, M. (1995). Reconceptualizing comparative industrial relations: Lessons from international research. Int'lLab. Rev., 134, 139.

Morgan, G., & Hauptmeier, M. (2014). Varieties of institutional theory in comparative employment relations. Handbook of Employment Relations: Comparative Employment Systems, 190-221.

Trade union strategies: between crisis and revitalization

Required readings:

Bernaciak, M., Gumbrell-McCormick, R., & Hyman, R. (2014). European trade unionism: from crisis to renewal?. Brussels: ETUI.

Frege, C. M., & Kelly, J. (2003). Union Revitalization Strategies in Comparative Perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 9(1), 7-24.

Gumbrell-McCormick, R., & Hyman, R. (2013). Mapping the terrain: varieties of industrial relations and trade unionism, in Trade unions in Western Europe: hard times, hard choices. Oxford University Press, pp. 29-51.

Ibsen, C. L., & Tapia, M. (2017). Trade union revitalisation: Where are we now? Where to next?. Journal of Industrial Relations, 59(2), 170-191.

Industrial relations and varieties of capitalism; the role of employer organisations

Required readings:

Bulfone, F., & Afonso, A. (2020). Business against markets: employer resistance to collective bargaining liberalization during the eurozone crisis. Comparative Political Studies, 53(5), 809-846.

Hall, P. A., &Soskice, D. (2001). An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism, in Hall, P. A., &Soskice, D. (eds.) Varieties o fCapitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, pp. 1-70, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Regini, M. (2003). Tripartite concertation and varieties of capitalism. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 9(3), 251-263.

Collective bargaining and inequalities

Required readings:

Baccaro, L., & Howell, C. (2017). Arguing for Neoliberal Convergence, in Baccaro, L., & Howell, C., Trajectories of neoliberal transformation: European industrial relations since the 1970s, pp. 6-25, Cambridge University Press.

Calmfors, L., &Driffill, J. (1988). Bargaining structure, corporatism and macroeconomic performance. Economic policy, 3(6), 13-61.

Marginson, P. (2015). Coordinated bargaining in Europe: From incremental corrosion to frontal assault?. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 21(2), 97-114.

 

Labour market policies: definition, characteristics, programs and comparative aspects

Required readings:

- Sjöberg O., Palme J., Carroll E. [2010], "Unemployment Insurance", in Castles F., Leibfried S., Lewis J., Obinger H., Pierson C., (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford University Press.

- Kenworthy L. [2010], "Labour Market Activation", in Castles F., Leibfried S., Lewis J., Obinger H., Pierson C., (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford University Press.

- Hemerijck A., [2012], "Changing Welfare States", Oxford, Oxford University Press, (Chapter 2:The New Politics of the Welfare State Revisited

 

Labour market policies in Europe and the United States: from the origins till the 1990s

Required readings:

- Palier B. (ed) [2010], A Long Goodbye to Bismarck?: The Politics of Welfare Reform in Continental Europe,Amsterdam University Press: selected chapters: Palier B. "Ordering Change. Understanding the Bismarkian Welfare Reform Trajectory"; Palier B. "The Long Conservative Corporatist Road to Welfare Reforms".

- Clasen, J., Clegg, D. (eds) [2011], Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptation to Post-Industrial Labour Markets In Europe, Oxford, Oxford University Press: selected chapters: J. Clasen and D. Clegg: "Unemployment Protection and Labour Market Change in Europe: Towards 'Triple Integration?"; G. Bonoli: "Active Labour Market Policies in a Changing Economic Context"; J. Clasen and D. Clegg: "The Transformation of Unemployment Protection in Europe"

The emerging regimes of labour market policies in the 2000s

Required readings:

- Hemerijck A., [2012], Changing Welfare States, Oxford, Oxford University Press: Chapter 3: "Challenges to Twenty-First Century Social Policy Provision"

- Thelen K. [2014], Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity, Cambridge University Press: Chapter 3: "Vocational Education and Training"; Chapter 4: "Labour Market Policy".

- Dolvik J., Martin A. [eds] [2015], European Social Models from Crisis to Crisis, Oxford, Oxford University Press: selected chapters: Carlin W. et al., "The Transformation of the German Social Model"; Le Cacheux J. Ross G., "France in the Middle"; Mayhew K., Wickham-Jones M., "The U.K.'s Social Model"; Perez S., Rhodes M., "The Evolution and Crisis of the Social Models in Italy and Spain"; Dolvik E., Goul Andersen J., Vartiainen J., "The Nordic Social Models in Turbolent Times: Consilidation and Flexible Adaptation".

 

Teaching methods

The course is divided into modules and complementary activities. Lectures will be alternated with group discussions and case studies aimed at deepening the topics covered in class. Presentations will be conducted by students on the topics covered in class.

Assessment methods

Written examination of the duration of 2 hours, during which it is not allowed the use of books, notes, and electronic media. The test consists of 3 questions that refer to some topics addressed in class and in the reference readings.

The written test is aimed at assessing the critical and methodological skills of the students and their ability to confront the texts and the topics covered during the course. The supplementary activities carried out in class and the presentations are part of the final evaluation.

For those not attending classes the exam is oral.

Teaching tools

Videos and papers not included in the texts, but particularly significant for the topics covered in class. Slides and other teaching materials will be available to the students in electronic format on the IOL platform. Username and password are reserved for students enrolled at the University of Bologna.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Rizza

See the website of Oscar Molina

SDGs

Gender equality Decent work and economic growth Reduced inequalities

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.