Institutional change in the German wage bargaining system: The role of big companies

Despite the emergence of new production systems, Europeanization and economic internationalization, the national arrangements of wage bargaining systems have not been eroded. The paper highlights the factors that counteract the pressures for a straightforward decentralization with reference to Germany. Firstly, the maintenance of peaceful labour relations is a major advantage for big companies in centralized wage bargaining systems. Secondly, big companies have been able to achieve labour cost control and the differentiation of working conditions by drawing up pacts for employment and competitiveness at the company level. Thirdly, they have succeeded in introducing a higher degree of flexibility into the collective agreement framework. The main argument will be that institutional change has taken other forms than expected. Whereas the formal institutional setting has remained relatively stable, the functioning of the German wage bargaining system has changed. -- Trotz der Verbreitung neuer Produktionssysteme, der Europäisierung und der wirtschaftlichen Internationalisierung sind nationale Tarifverhandlungssysteme in den meisten Ländern stabil geblieben. Dieses Working Paper hebt am Beispiel Deutschlands die Faktoren hervor, die dem Dezentralisierungsdruck entgegen wirken. Für Großunternehmen ist auch unter veränderten Bedingungen die Vermeidung von Konflikten einer der Hauptvorteile zentraler Tarifverhandlungssysteme. In dem gegebenen institutionellen Rahmen haben Unternehmen Möglichkeiten gefunden, über Standortsicherungsvereinbarungen auf Unternehmensebene die Arbeitsorganisation zu flexibilisieren und Arbeitskosten zu senken. Zudem konnten sie Tarifverträge flexibler gestalten und Öffnungsmöglichkeiten einfügen. Als Ergebnis wird festgehalten, dass institutionelle Veränderungen andere Formen angenommen haben als erwartet. Während die formalen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen verhältnismäßig stabil geblieben sind, hat sich die Funktionsweise des deutschen Tarifverhandlungssystems verändert.

Case Study: Deutsche Telekom and "Schools Online" (SaN). Connecting German Schools to the internet

The CEO of Deutsche Telekom, Ron Sommer, and Jürgen Rüttgers, current prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, founded “schools online” (in German: “Schulen ans Netz”, and short: SaN) in 1996 with the goal of connecting German schools to the internet. In his opening speech, Ron Sommer said the commitment of Deutsche Telekom was made on the grounds of its responsibility towards society. Deutsche Telekom wanted to display good corporate citizenship in an area that was close to its business and expertise. He also claimed the money spent was an investment into the future rather than a sponsoring activity. An early employee, Nikolaus Huss, responsible for public relations at SaN said: “There never was any clear indication as to what the goal was. It was never really made clear whether there was more to it than corporate citizenship. It was understood among us that somehow Telekom felt responsible for electronic alphabetisation and on the other hand was sure to profit from this later on, although nobody really felt it necessary to plan the future outcome.

Two dimensions of the internationalization of firms

The debate about measuring the degree of internationalization of firms has not solved the question about the usefulness of having one index on the internationalization of firms. This article argues in favour of constructing indices, if the components of those are theoretically and empirically coherent. It also proves empirically that there are at least two dimensions of internationalization: one referring to the activities of firms abroad and one relating to the proximity of the firm to international capital markets. Using a sample of the 100 largest German companies, this study shows that both dimensions, the real and the financial one, do not co-vary and therefore cannot be combined into one index. -- Um den Einfluß wirtschaftlicher Internationalisierung auf nationale Institutionengefüge zu überprüfen, werden geeignete Meßverfahren zur Messung von Internationalisierung benötigt. Der Beitrag stellt ein Verfahren zur Messung der Internationalisierung von Unternehmen vor. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, daß die Internationalisierung von Unternehmen mehrere unterscheidbare Dimensionen hat. Die realwirtschaftliche Dimension beschreibt die güter- und produktionswirtschaftliche grenzüberschreitende Expansion der Unternehmen, während die kapitalmarktbezogene Dimension die Orientierung der Unternehmen an internationalen Kapitalmärkten abbildet. Anhand einer Untersuchung über den Internationalisierungsgrad der 100 größten deutschen Unternehmen werden beide Internationalisierungsdimensionen empirisch überprüft. Die Faktorenanalyse unterstützt die Annahme, daß sich beide Dimensionen empirisch deutlich voneinander unterscheiden lassen. Anhand der vorgestellten Messmethoden lassen sich die Unternehmen eindeutig in stark und schwach internationalisierte Unternehmen einteilen.

Labor Migration in the European Union: De-institutionalization or Re-institutionalization of Social Protection?

The literature on European Union (EU) integration sees increasing liberalization as a major challenge for models of national capitalism within Member States. EU liberalization, it is argued, erodes national welfare regimes and prevents the re-embedding of markets in social protection systems. However, other scholars highlight the ability of national institutions to reinvent themselves to offer social protection. This paper assesses these claims by exploring an extreme case of labor market pressure driven by EU liberalization. Employment conditions in the meat production sector in Germany and Denmark have been affected in very different ways by EU liberalization. We explore whether, and to what extent, low wage labor migration has weakened the position of social partners and the rules that shape the employment conditions in the industry. We see evidence of deinstitutionalization in both Germany and Denmark but we also see evidence of distinct institutional reinvention that reflects national political traditions. We find that some degree of solidaristic labor market regulation can be maintained – at least in the short term – even in the face of relocation and job losses

The paradox of liberalization – understanding dualism and the recovery of the German political economy

What do the recent trends in German economic development convey about the trajectory of change? Has liberalization prepared the German economy to deal with new challenges? What effects will liberalization have on the coordinating capacities of economic institutions? This paper argues that coordination and liberalization are two sides of the same coin in the process of corporate restructuring in the face of economic shocks. Firms seek labour cooperation in the face of tighter competitive pressures and exploit institutional advantages of coordination. However, tighter cooperation with core workers sharpened insider-outsider divisions and were built upon service sector cost cutting through liberalization. The combination of plantlevel restructuring and social policy change forms a trajectory of institutional adjustment of forming complementary economic segments which work under different rules. The process is driven by producer coalitions of export-oriented firms and core workers’ representatives rather than by firms per se

Wage setting, social pacts and the Euro: a new role for the state

Globalization, financial liberalization and neo-liberal economic policy thinking have been seen as contributors to the demise of social partnership in Western Europe. Recent examples of the re-emergence of social pacts have challenged these assumptions. The book offers a theoretical understanding of the challenges that increasing monetary integration posed for existing modes of adjustment in the political economies of EU member states, and explains why many governments have chosen to negotiate with trade unions over economic adjustment.Door de Europese monetaire integratie staan overheden voor een enorme economisch-politieke uitdaging. Niet langer kunnen ze door middel van waarde-inflatie de economische tekorten oplossen. Het gevolg was dat de Eurolanden loonbepalingen gebruiken om de economie bij te sturen. Opmerkelijk is dat in tegenstelling tot de wijdverbreide verwachting, loonbepalingssystemen in West-Europa de laatste 25 jaar gecentraliseerd zijn gebleven. En de band tussen overheden en sociale partners zijn eerder inniger dan losser geworden. Hassel onderzoekt in Wage Setting, Social Pacts and the Euro. A New Role for the State loonbepalingssystemen in West-Europa. Ze laat zien dat overheden hebben gekozen voor onderhandelingen met de sociale partners en niet voor de deregulering van de arbeidsmarkten. Hassel brengt de economische en politieke voordelen van de onderhandelde loonbepalingen naar voren, tegen de achtergrond van een strikter monetair beleid en een toegenomen economische openhei

Dimensionen der Internationalisierung: Ergebnisse der Unternehmensdatenbank Internationalisierung der 100 größten Unternehmen in Deutschland

Anhand eines Samples der 100 größten deutschen Unternehmen wird die Frage diskutiert, wie sich der Internationalisierungsgrad von Unternehmen messen läßt. Es wird vorgeschlagen, zwischen zwei Internationalisierungsdimensionen zu unterscheiden: Einer realwirtschaftlichen und einer kapitalmarktbezogenen Dimension der Internationalisierung. Beide Internationalisierungsdimensionen werden durch jeweils einen zusammengesetzten unternehmensbezogenen Internationalisierungsindex repräsentiert. Die realwirtschaftliche Seite der Internationalisierung wird anhand des Anteils Auslandsbeschäftigter an der Belegschaft, anhand des Anteils des Auslandsumsatzes am Gesamtumsatz und anhand der regionalen Streuung der Unternehmensaktivitäten gemessen. Die kapitalmarktbezogene Seite der Internationalisierung wird durch den Aktienanteil im Besitz ausländischer Anleger, die Anwendung internationaler Bilanzierungsmethoden und Notierungen an ausländischen Börsen abgebildet. Es zeigt sich, daß die drei Indikatoren beider Dimensionen stark miteinander korreliert sind, während sich zwischen beiden Internationalisierungsdimensionen nur ein schwacher Zusammenhang ergibt. --

Wage Setting, Social Pacts and the Euro

Globalization, financial liberalization and neo-liberal economic policy thinking have been seen as contributors to the demise of social partnership in Western Europe. Recent examples of the re-emergence of social pacts have challenged these assumptions. The book offers a theoretical understanding of the challenges that increasing monetary integration posed for existing modes of adjustment in the political economies of EU member states, and explains why many governments have chosen to negotiate with trade unions over economic adjustment

The platform effect: How Amazon changed work in logistics in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom

While the effects of the platform economy on work are mainly studied through the lens of gig or cloud workers, many more employees are likely to be affected in non-platform firms or sectors. We discuss the mechanisms of platform economy’s impact on the employment relationships and indirect effect on employment trends. Platform firms enter the service economy with business models that put existing service providers under pressure and advance a platform model of employment relationship. However, their transformative force is limited by three factors: employment regulations, access to welfare provisions and the employment relations at legacy firms. We examine the case of Amazon logistics in the US, Germany and the UK and find that the employment contract, as a legal institution, prevents the dissemination of independent contracting as the preferred employment model. Moreover, the welfare state has a paradoxical effect on platform work: universal welfare and liberal employment law facilitate the rise of precarious work