Examining the traditionally predominant role of the state in shaping employment patterns and social policy in France, French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy analyzes the impact of globalization on French industrial relations. Looking at the changing economic context of industrial relations, this important text places particular emphasis on the notion of a shift from a national, Fordist form of employment regulation, to an international, post-Fordist form - examining in detail the impact of this shift on the role of the French state and on the balance of power between employer and trade union organizations. Including chapters on employer organizations, collective bargaining, the role of the state, and workplace representation, French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy explores this fascinating topic in detail and provides a detailed resource for postgraduates studying trade unions, industrial and employee relations, and industrial studies in general.

French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy by Nick Parsons. Routledge, London and New York, 2005, xii+222 pp., ISBN 0 415368529, £75.00.Books reviewed:French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy by Nick Parsons. Routledge, London and New York, 2005, xii+222 pp., ISBN 0 415368529, £75.00.

The international economy is a key factor shaping relations between employers, unions and governments in the world's advanced industrial societies. This study reports how globalization affects the contemporary workplace and how workplace policies can make

Examining the traditionally predominant role of the state in shaping employment patterns and social policy in France, French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy analyzes the impact of globalization on French industrial relations. Looking at the changing economic context of industrial relations, this important text places particular emphasis on the notion of a shift from a national, Fordist form of employment regulation, to an international, post-Fordist form - examining in detail the impact of this shift on the role of the French state and on the balance of power between employer and trade union organizations. Including chapters on employer organizations, collective bargaining, the role of the state, and workplace representation, French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy explores this fascinating topic in detail and provides a detailed resource for postgraduates studying trade unions, industrial and employee relations, and industrial studies in general.

Comprises essays which examine changes in industrial relations and work structures in 11 countries.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,5, Hamburg University of Ecomomy and Policy (European Studies), course: Political and economic systems in comparative perspective, language: English, abstract: This paper seeks to give a broad overview of the major developments in the French economic order since the Second World War. First by enlarging upon historical changes in the French economic policy and further by describing the structure of the economic sectors of the French economy today, focusing on the French companies. The strengths and weaknesses of the French industrial production will be reflected by an analysis of its export and import sectors. As a theoretical base for the paper serves the Varieties of Capitalism approach by Hall and Soskice. In their theory of comparative capitalism they regard France as one possible model of capitalism, namely in between a coordinated and a liberal market economy (CME/LME). In this paper Hall and Soskice ́s theory is supposed to have an explanatory function for the described institutional characteristics in the French economic order. Generally Hall and Soskice ́s approach has to be seen in the tradition of comparative political economy, yet going beyond former theories as Shonfield ́s modernization approach, neocorporatism or the social systems of production approach. By drawing on game theory Hall and Soskice even create a interdisciplinary approach addressing both econonomics and political scientists. Hall/Soskice try to provide a new theoretical framework to analyse and understand the nationa l similarities and differences in political and economic institutions, shifting the focus of attention to the role of firms in the economic performance and the institutions that condition or alter interaction between economic actors. In these interactions, various actors e.g. firms rationally try to defend their interests. For firms the five most important interaction spheres vital for the firms development, production and profitability are industrial relations, vocational training and education, corporate governance, inter- firm relations and the interaction with their own employees. Interactions like these often create uneven information levels and thus entail coordination problems. Hall and Soskice take the view that the different ways in which firms handle these coordination problems can be used to compare national political economies. Firms in LMEs rather tend to solve their coordination problems with the help of market mechanisms. Firms in CMEs refer to non-market relationships, e.g. institutions that promote the exchange of information among actors. [...]

The Role of the State and Industrial Relations Edited by Adalberto Perulli & Tiziano Treu The new era of industrial relations that has been stealthily changing the world of work in recent decades seems to have reached a stage where it can be systematically monitored and analyzed, in great part because the “creeping renationalization” that has been noted since the financial crisis of 2008 has reinvigorated state intervention in essential economic structures. The contributions in this unrivalled book provide important new perspectives on the many challenges inherent in the present and future of the relationship between industrial relations and the state. Analyzing industrial relations systems from international, supranational, European and national points of view—and with an interdisciplinary approach connecting labour law, commercial law, corporate governance and international law—this one-of-kind book examines such salient aspects of the subject as the following: cooperative versus conflictual industrial relations systems; phenomenon of constitutionalization of power by multinational enterprises; competitive, illiberal and protectionist patterns of state regulation; freedom of association and industrial relations; potential power of transnational collective bargaining; impact of worktime arrangements; role of European Works Councils; exemplary value of the German system of workers’ participation; and global framework agreements. Using a comparative approach (the European Union, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, the United States, Brazil, South Africa, India), the book reconstructs the general framework of global industrial relations, considering challenges and future prospects and proposing a new agenda for the state. Contributors include widely renowned professors of labour, commercial and international law, as well as experts from the International Labour Organization and the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law. The debate about industrial relations and the state in our globalized world is of major concern for practitioners in governments, companies, employers’ associations and trade unions, as well as for company managers, entrepreneurs, consultants, judges, human rights lawyers and academics interested in labour, industrial relations and social rights in European and international contexts.