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Finance, Discipline and the Labour Share in the Long‐Run: France (1911–2010) and Sweden (1891–2000)

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  • Giorgos Gouzoulis

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate within political economy on how finance affects capital–labour relations. Industrial relation scholars have demonstrated that financialization empowers capital and induces the liberalization of industrial relations. Additionally, meso and macro level studies show that finance reduced the labour share during neoliberalism. However, the literature is relatively limited and does not extend to the pre‐WWII period. Considering finance as historically integral to capitalism, this paper estimates the impact of finance on the labour shares of France (1911–2010) and Sweden (1891–2000). The results show that mortgage debt decreases the labour shares of both countries, thus, the financialization of households induces industrial discipline historically. However, the negative effect is substantially smaller in Sweden where housing finance is state‐led and bargaining coordination is centralized over the last century.

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  • Giorgos Gouzoulis, 2021. "Finance, Discipline and the Labour Share in the Long‐Run: France (1911–2010) and Sweden (1891–2000)," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 568-594, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:59:y:2021:i:2:p:568-594
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12576
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    1. Giorgos Gouzoulis, 2023. "What do indebted employees do? Financialisation and the decline of industrial action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 71-94, January.
    2. Giorgos Gouzoulis & Panagiotis (Takis) Iliopoulos & Giorgos Galanis, 2023. "Financialisation, Underemployment, & the Disconnected Greek Capitalism," Working Papers 112, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    3. Gouzoulis, Giorgos & Iliopoulos, Panagiotis & Galanis, Giorgos, 2022. "EU-induced Financialisation and Its Impact on the Greek Wage Share, 1999-2021," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1209, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Giorgos Gouzoulis & Giorgos Galanis & Panagiotis (Takis) Iliopoulos, 2024. "Financialisation, shareholder value orientation, and the decline of trade union membership in the EU," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 30(2), pages 161-179, May.
    5. Walter Paternesi Meloni & Antonella Stirati, 2023. "The decoupling between labour compensation and productivity in high‐income countries: Why is the nexus broken?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 425-463, June.
    6. Giorgos Gouzoulis & Panagiotis (Takis) Iliopoulos & Giorgos Galanis, 2023. "Financialization and the rise of atypical work," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 24-45, March.

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