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Neoliberalisation of industrial relations: The ideational development of Dutch employers’ organisations between 1976 and 2019

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  • Saskia Boumans

Abstract

This article considers the debate about the process of liberalisation of industrial relations from an ideational institutional perspective. While the gradual liberalisation of industrial relations has increased employer discretion, the role of employers’ organisations in this process is unclear. The case study is the Netherlands, a neo-corporatist country described as stable and robust but where institutional outcomes have undergone major shifts. To understand how this happened, the author analysed 40 years of collective bargaining policy using an ideational approach. The article argues that Dutch organised employers had the confidence that the strength of their ideas was enough to gradually but surely change industrial relations within the existing neo-corporatist framework by redefining the role of the firm, the state and the employee in the economy. The article also shows that since the early 2010s Dutch organised employers have changed their strategy leading to further de-collectivisation of industrial relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Saskia Boumans, 2022. "Neoliberalisation of industrial relations: The ideational development of Dutch employers’ organisations between 1976 and 2019," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1610-1631, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:4:p:1610-1631
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X211020086
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nagelkerke, A.G. & Wilthagen, A.C.J.M., 2000. "Op weg naar een institutioneel mozaïek; De Nederlandse arbeidsverhoudingen aan het begin van de 21e eeuw," Other publications TiSEM ccd4d189-458e-4bc3-9cfa-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
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    4. Paster, Thomas, 2015. "Bringing power back in: A review of the literature on the role of business in welfare state politics," MPIfG Discussion Paper 15/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Maarten Keune, 2018. "Organised Decentralisation of Collective Bargaining: Case studies of Germany, Netherlands and Denmark," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 217, OECD Publishing.
    6. Martin, Cathie Jo & Swank, Duane, 2004. "Does the Organization of Capital Matter? Employers and Active Labor Market Policy at the National and Firm Levels," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(4), pages 593-611, November.
    7. Thomas Paster & Dennie Oude Nijhuis & Maximilian Kiecker, 2020. "To Extend or Not to Extend: Explaining the Divergent Use of Statutory Bargaining Extensions in the Netherlands and Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(3), pages 532-557, September.
    8. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107053168.
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