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The Role of Ideas in Understanding Industrial Relations Policy Change in Liberal Market Economies

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  • Colm McLaughlin
  • Chris F. Wright

Abstract

This paper analyzes the uneven processes underpinning industrial relations policy liberalization in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Drawing upon 140 elite interviews and building upon ideational comparative political theories, the paper highlights the role of ideas in the policy change process. It identifies how particular ideas can be used to construct policy problems, how these ideas can gain legitimacy through battles with competing ideas, and how policy legacies can influence whether ideas take root. The findings from the comparative case analysis expose a critical difference between “positive legacies” and “negative legacies” to account for different liberalization trajectories.

Suggested Citation

  • Colm McLaughlin & Chris F. Wright, 2018. "The Role of Ideas in Understanding Industrial Relations Policy Change in Liberal Market Economies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 568-610, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:57:y:2018:i:4:p:568-610
    DOI: 10.1111/irel.12218
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    13. 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.
    14. Lamare, J. Ryan & Budd, John W., 2022. "The relative importance of industrial relations ideas in politics: a quantitative analysis of political party manifestos across 54 countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125308, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. James Duggan & Michelle O’Sullivan & Maeve O’Sullivan, 2023. "Essential or excluded? Union pressures and state responses to platform work in three liberal market economies," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(4), pages 491-505, November.
    16. Moshfique Uddin & Anup Chowdhury & Geoffrey Wood, 2022. "The resilience of the British and European goods industry: Challenge of Brexit," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(4), pages 934-954.
    17. Martin B. Carstensen & Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Vivien A. Schmidt, 2022. "Ideas and power in employment relations studies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 3-21, January.
    18. Ashwin, Sarah & Lohmeyer, Nora & Egels-Zandén, Niklas & Alexander, Rachel, 2024. "Going global: comparing union resourcefulness in securing inclusion in supply chain labor governance initiatives," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123894, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Julie M É Garneau & Sara Pérez-Lauzon & Christian Lévesque, 2023. "Digitalisation of work in aerospace manufacturing: expanding union frames and repertoires of action in Belgium, Canada and Denmark," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(1), pages 139-154, February.
    20. Chris F. Wright & Colm McLaughlin, 2021. "Trade Union Legitimacy and Legitimation Politics in Australia and New Zealand," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 338-369, July.
    21. Budd, John W. & Lamare, J. Ryan, 2021. "The importance of political systems for trade union membership, coverage and influence: theory and comparative evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125307, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    22. J. Ryan Lamare & John W. Budd, 2022. "The relative importance of industrial relations ideas in politics: A quantitative analysis of political party manifestos across 54 countries," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 22-49, January.
    23. Urwana Coiquaud & Lucie Morissette, 2022. "The politics of Uber in Quebec. A discursive institutionalist study," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 91-108, January.
    24. Paulo Marzionna, 2023. "Is this workplace bullying? How ideas about conflict shape conflict management strategies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 366-391, June.

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