IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/liu/liucej/v14y2017i1p89-107.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Flexible Labour, Flexible Production and Innovation-by-Agreement: International Comparisons Contesting the Lindbeck-Snower Insider-Outsider Thesis and 'Structural Reforms' in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Teresa Carla Oliveira
  • Stuart Holland

Abstract

This paper critiques the case for flexibilisation of labour markets. It evidences that influential claims for this in terms of an insider-outsider thesis by former Nobel economics committee member Assar Lindbeck and the British economist Dennis Snower were purely theoretical without offering any evidence, or recognising contrary evidence. It cites a recent admission by the IMF that there is no basis for claiming that protection of employee rights inhibits economic efficiency and cites also a questioning of structural reforms and an obsession with competitiveness by Benoît Cœuré, an Executive Director of the ECB. It illustrates that the achievement of some of the most competitive companies in the world, in Japan, has been based on reinforcing insider rights through commitment to lifetime employment for core employees and how this has enabled high levels of efficiency and process innovation through continuous improvement. It relates this to theories of psychological and social contracts, and evidences the influence of this flexible production rather than flexible labour market model on the recommendation of innovation-by-agreement in the 2000 Lisbon Agenda of the European Council including the right to work-life balance which has not been integral to flexible production in Japan. It then summarises some implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Teresa Carla Oliveira & Stuart Holland, 2017. "Flexible Labour, Flexible Production and Innovation-by-Agreement: International Comparisons Contesting the Lindbeck-Snower Insider-Outsider Thesis and 'Structural Reforms' in the European Union," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 14(1), pages 89-107, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:liu:liucej:v:14:y:2017:i:1:p:89-107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ejce.liuc.it/18242979201701/182429792017140105.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abiad (ADB), Abdul & Furceri (IMF and University of Palermo), Davide & Topalova (IMF), Petia, 2016. "The macroeconomic effects of public investment: Evidence from advanced economies," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 224-240.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schreiner, Lena & Madlener, Reinhard, 2022. "Investing in power grid infrastructure as a flexibility option: A DSGE assessment for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    2. Marius Clemens & Marcel Fratzscher & Claus Michelsen, 2021. "Ein Investitionsprogramm zur Krisenbewältigung," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(3), pages 168-171, March.
    3. Cyrille Lenoël & Corrado Macchiarelli & Garry Young, 2022. "Greece 2010-18: What could we have done differently?," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 172, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    4. Hans Pitlik & Michael Klien & Stefan Schiman-Vukan, 2017. "Stabilitätskonforme Berücksichtigung nachhaltiger öffentlicher Investitionen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60595, August.
    5. Magud, Nicolas E. & Pienknagura, Samuel, 2024. "The return of expansionary austerity: Firms' investment response to fiscal adjustments in emerging markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    6. Jorg Bibow, 2015. "The Euro's Savior? Assessing the ECB's Crisis Management Performance and Potential for Crisis Resolution," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_845, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Kose,Ayhan & Ohnsorge,Franziska Lieselotte & Ye,Lei Sandy & Islamaj,Ergys, 2017. "Weakness in investment growth : causes, implications and policy responses," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7990, The World Bank.
    8. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Duration of membership in the world trade organization and investment-oriented remittances inflows," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 258-277.
    9. Jocelyn Boussard & Benoît Campagne, 2017. "Fiscal policy coordination in a monetary union at the zero lower bound," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 494-495-4, pages 65-90.
    10. Balázs Égert, 2021. "Investment in OECD Countries: a Primer," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(2), pages 200-223, June.
    11. Noel Rapa & Abigail Marie Rapa, "undated". "The macroeconomic effects of closing the public sector capital gap in Malta," CBM Policy Papers PP/07/2019, Central Bank of Malta.
    12. João Tovar Jalles & Bryn Battersby & Rachel Lee, 2024. "Effectiveness of Fiscal Announcements: Early Evidence from COVID-19," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 623-658, July.
    13. Mario Alloza & Danilo Leiva-León & Alberto Urtasun, 2022. "The response of private investment to an increase in public investment," Economic Bulletin, Banco de España, issue 2/2022.
    14. Nazim Belhocine & La-Bhus Fah Jirasavetakul, 2020. "Lessons from Two Public Sector Reforms in Italy," IMF Working Papers 2020/040, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Marcello Minenna & Dario Aversa, 2019. "A Revised European Stability Mechanism to Realize Risk Sharing on Public Debts at Market Conditions and Realign Economic Cycles in the Euro Area," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 48(1), February.
    16. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Duration of WTO Membership and Investment-Oriented Remittances Flows," EconStor Preprints 251274, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. João Tovar Jalles, 2020. "The impact of financial crises on the environment in developing countries," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 281-306, June.
    18. Andreea Ocolișanu & Gabriela Dobrotă & Dan Dobrotă, 2022. "The Effects of Public Investment on Sustainable Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Emerging Countries in Central and Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-25, July.
    19. Carranza-Ugarte, Luis & Díaz-Saavedra, Julián & Galdon-Sanchez, Jose Enrique, 2023. "Rethinking fiscal rules," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 833-857.
      • Luis Carranza Ugarte & Julian Diaz Saavedra & Jose Enrique Galdon-Sanchez, 2021. "Rethinking fiscal rules," ThE Papers 21/14, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    20. Panizza, Ugo & Fatás, Antonio & Ghosh, Atish R. & ,, 2019. "The Motives to Borrow," CEPR Discussion Papers 13735, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Flexibility; Continuous Improvement; Psychological and Social Contracts; Innovation-by-Agreement; Work-Life Balance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:liu:liucej:v:14:y:2017:i:1:p:89-107. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Laura Ballestra (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/liuccit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.