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Rethinking the Role of the State in Employment Relations for a Neoliberal Era

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  • Chris Howell

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, state intervention to reshape employment relations has become a generalized feature of contemporary capitalism. A broad neoliberal reconstruction of the market order has gone hand in hand with a more active state. In this article the author argues that liberalization in the sphere of employment relations could not have taken place without a more active state. Building on a regulation theory framework and an elaboration of the concept of neoliberalism as the regulatory infrastructure of emergent growth models, the author examines how the widespread shift from wage-led growth to other forms of growth across the advanced capitalist world has encouraged changes in the role of the state in the regulation of employment relations. These roles include market making, individual employment regulation in place of collective regulation, state-directed social pacts, and redrawing the boundaries between work and non-work. The article concludes with an explanation for continuing variations in employment relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Howell, 2021. "Rethinking the Role of the State in Employment Relations for a Neoliberal Era," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 739-772, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:74:y:2021:i:3:p:739-772
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793920904663
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ramón Rueda-López & María F. Muñoz-Doyague & Jaime Aja-Valle & María J. Vázquez-García, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Collective Bargaining: The Future of Labour Relations after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-29, November.
    3. Kim, Eun-Hee & Kim, Yeonbae, 2021. "Moving beyond the dichotomy of Hall & Soskice (2001): the State’s Role in economic growth," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 530-548.
    4. John W. Budd & J. Ryan Lamare, 2021. "The Importance of Political Systems for Trade Union Membership, Coverage and Influence: Theory and Comparative Evidence," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 757-787, September.
    5. Jens Arnholtz & Chris F. Wright, 2023. "Labor Migration as a Source of Institutional Change: Danish and Australian Construction Sectors Compared," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 532-555, May.
    6. Wike Been & Paul de Beer, 2022. "Combatting exploitation of migrant temporary agency workers through sectoral self-regulation in the UK and the Netherlands," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 175-191, June.
    7. Virginia Doellgast & Matthew Bidwell & Alexander J. S. Colvin, 2021. "New Directions in Employment Relations Theory: Understanding Fragmentation, Identity, and Legitimacy," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 555-579, May.
    8. Armanda Cetrulo & Dario Guarascio & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2024. "Two neglected origins of inequality: hierarchical power and care work," LEM Papers Series 2024/04, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Valeria Pulignano & Deborah Dean & Markieta Domecka & Lander Vermeerbergen, 2023. "How state influence on project work organization both drives and mitigates gendered precarity in cultural and creative industries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 313-335, June.
    10. Ola Bergström & Alexander Styhre, 2022. "It takes change to remain the same: The transformation of Swedish government policy making in economic crises and the involvement of social partners," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1564-1587, November.
    11. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan & Kristy Ward, 2023. "Beyond the brands: COVID‐19, supply chain governance, and the state–labor nexus," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 172-188, April.
    12. Tony Dobbins & Stewart Johnstone & Marta Kahancová & J. Ryan Lamare & Adrian Wilkinson, 2023. "Comparative impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on work and employment—Why industrial relations institutions matter," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 115-125, April.

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