The rise and fall of social partnership in postsocialist Europe: the Commonwealth of Independent States

Traditional trade unions throughout the postsocialist world embraced ‘social partnership’ as a means to secure their institutional survival in a radically changed economic and political environment. The commitment of national governments to social partnership ebbed and flowed through the 1990s, but it was confirmed, at least rhetorically, in Central and Eastern Europe by the prospect and requirements of accession to the European Union. This article explores the fate of social partnership in the ‘other half’ of Europe, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where social dialogue has largely been abandoned and trade unions alternatively marginalised or subordinated to the state apparatus.     

我国城镇化发展水平及东西部差异

选用我国中西部地区城镇第二产业集聚度指标,利用卡利诺模型,在计量回归的基础上得出西方盛行的诺斯姆规律并不适合我国城镇化实际情况的结论,并在此基础上进一步提出虽然我国东西部地区城镇发展水平差距较大.但是东西部地区城镇第二产业发展质量差距并不明显,我国东西部地区城镇发展水平的差距主要来源于第三产业的差距的观点.     

NPM Can Work: An optimistic review of the impact of New Public Management reforms in central and eastern Europe

Abstract

This article reviews the New Public Management (NPM) literature in central and eastern Europe (CEE) with the aim of assessing whether reforms have ‘worked’. Increasingly, academics have tended to argue against the suitability of NPM instruments in this region. To understand the impact of this much-debated policy, we first propose a classification of the impacts of NPM geared to the realities of central and eastern European states. Then, we use this classification to carefully review empirical studies across the region over the past 10 years. Unlike much of the recent academic literature, we suggest that NPM can work. NPM policy has not always been successful to the extent expected and promoted, but there is enough evidence to show that some of the central ideas in NPM have led to improvements in public service organization or provision across different organizational settings. An adequate degree of administrative capacity, sustained reform over time and a ‘fitting context’ are the main factors that can tip the scale for the success of these management instruments. The article provides a fresh and transparent assessment of a major administrative development in a growing region with implications for other parts of the world that experience similar challenges and opportunities.     

Two speed ahead: social Europe and the UK after Maastricht

Legislation and collective bargaining are a different but often complementary means of protecting employees and strengthening workers’ rights. At the EC level both means are now being followed but, at present, since Maastricht largely without the UK. Here the author considers whether in the longer term the UK's isolation from such developments can be sustained even in the light of the outcome of the April General Election.     

Britain in a social Europe: industrial relations and 1992

This article suggests that European Community social policy is now moving into a third stage that is having an increasing impact on the UK. However, continuing differences in European labour markets, collective bargaining and trade union organisation make it impossible to identify a common European pattern of industrial relations     

Central bank independence and economic performance in eastern Europe

Following the breakdown of central planning by the early 1990s, transition economies faced varying measures of the need for economic restructuring and stabilisation. This paper examines both the trends in economic performance in eight eastern European countries and the degree of central bank independence (CBI) granted after reforms. The evidence of the paper indicates that both the measures of CBI and the measures of financial market development (FMD) show significant association with macroeconomic variables. Also, the sample exhibits positive association between CBI and measures of FMD.     

Delivery of private toll roads: Incentive strategies for improving service quality and social welfare

Managing the service quality of toll roads delivered by using Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to ensure value for money to taxpayers is challenging for governments worldwide. An absence of critical research in this area has exacerbated this challenge. The upshot, in this instance, has been an inability for governments to engender and enact effective incentive strategies to operate and maintain private toll roads. To fill this gap, this paper aims to identify and examine incentive strategies for improving the operational quality of toll roads delivered by private entities. We develop a game model with four scenarios and then compare relevant decision behaviour and social welfare. The analysis reveals that only when the shadow cost of public funds is below a specific threshold there can be a feasible incentive strategy for ensuring quality improvement and higher social welfare. Furthermore, an incentive contract with a predetermined quality can enable a higher operational quality while requiring a higher incentive intensity. The contributions of this research are twofold: (1) we propose an enhanced model that is useful for governments to examine the impacts that different incentive strategies will have on the performance of transport projects; (2) we give an enhanced insight to support decision-making for incentives towards transport asset operations. This research will also be beneficial for governments in enhancing toll roads’ operational quality and social welfare for taxpayers.     

The free movement of workers and social Europe: maintaining the European ideal

The big EU enlargement of 2004 has fuelled the debate about whether labour migration from the east to the west is causing social dumping in the European economy, with the effect of upsetting established national systems of labour market regulation. This article reviews the effects of migration on EU labour markets. It also examines three recent industrial relations disputes which were about job displacement. It argues that there is little evidence of greater labour mobility causing new social dumping pressures on a widespread basis. However, it goes on to suggest that the situation may change if the EU adopts neoliberal policies such as the initial draft Services Directive at the same time as promoting greater labour market openness between the Member States. The article concludes by arguing for a better policy mix which would on the one hand involve the EU maintaining its commitment to the free movement of workers and on the other hand strengthen labour standard‐setting mechanisms at both the EU and national levels.     

The development and regional significance of the automotive industry: supplier parks in western Europe

Supplier relationships in the automotive industry have changed considerably in recent decades. Increasing levels of outsourcing and modular production combined with just–in–time deliveries have increased the demand for logistical coordination of the manufacturing process. This article specifically looks at the use of supplier parks in the automotive industry. Five supplier parks located in Sweden, Germany and Spain are analysed using case studies. One observation is that the logic of proximity in these cases is highly linked to the use of sequential synchronous just–in–time deliveries. This is combined with a high degree of modular production as well as outsourcing strategies. Together, these factors have pushed supplier companies to establish themselves in supplier parks. The cases also reveal very limited links to the local and regional economy. Most companies have the sole function of serving the adjacent customer with reliable deliveries. One further observation is that investment in infrastructure is to a great extent made through public funding, as supplier parks are typically ‘produced spaces’ in order to support the car–makers in the region. Les relations d’approvisionnement se sont profondément transformées au cours des deniers décennies dans l’industrie automobile. L’externalisation croissante et la modularisation associés à la gestion Juste–à–temps ont accentué le rôle de la logistique dans l’organisation du processus de production. Dans ce contexte, cet article étudie le rôle des parcs de fournisseurs dans l’industrie automobile. L’analyse se fonde sur l’étude approfondie de cinq parcs de fournisseurs localisés en Allemagne, Espagne et Suède. Une des conclusions de ses études de cas est que la logique de proximité est largement associée à la diffusion de la production synchrone, mais aussi à l’importance de la production modulaire et au degré d’externalisation. Ces trois facteurs explicatifs justifient la localisation des équipementiers dans les parcs de fournisseurs. Les cas étudiés mettent aussi en évidence un impact limité de ces complexes sur l’économie locale. La plupart des fournisseurs ne localisent qu’une simple fonction de préparation des sous–ensembles livrés en temps voulu sur les chaînes d’assemblage. Enfin, on peut noter que l’investissement dans l’infrastructure est pour une large part financée sur des fonds publics, les parcs de fournisseurs pouvant être qualifiés d’espaces produits’ afin de consolider l’implantation locale des constructeurs.     

西方社会影响评价的发展历程

介绍了西方社会影响评价的内容、产生背景及公共参与的关系,具体分析西方社会影响评价在不同时间段的概念发展,以及该评价方法在不同空间范围的侧重点及评价内容,并初步阐述不同时期的社会影响评价分析方法。     

探索新农村建设的途径

2006年4月18日—26日,我随贾庆林方席考察了江西、江苏两省.先后对井冈山、景德镇、连云港、扬州、泰州、南通、南京等市的农村、企业、科研单位和高等学校进行深入调查研究,了解了许多实际情况,获得了大量第一手资料,发现了不少新情况新问题,印象十分深刻.现仅就建设新农村问题谈谈一些自己的粗浅体会.     

Beyond the Anglo‐Saxon and North European models: social partnership in a Greek textiles company

Much of the literature examining social partnership focuses on either Anglo‐Saxon or North European countries, differentiating between liberal market economies (LMEs) and coordinated market economies (CMEs). These studies argue, quite correctly, that the institutional forces shaping partnership in the two types of economy differ markedly, with the consequence that partnership takes somewhat different forms at the workplace. By contrast, there is only limited research on social partnership in Mediterranean economies—such as Greece—even though there are strong reasons to suggest it may be quite different from both LMEs and CMEs because of relatively recent military influence at state level and less well‐developed systems of industrial relations at organisational level. This article examines the forces operating both at national and at local level that facilitate or hinder the development of social partnership. It is based on the results of interviews with government, industry and union officials and a case study of partnership in a textiles company in northern Greece. It concludes that institutional forces provided workers with more protection than they would have achieved in an LME but that ultimately competitive pressures and a lack of effective workplace representation limited the degree to which the state can influence the processes and outcomes of social partnership at local level.     

Technology transfer and the restructuring of science and technology in central and eastern Europe

Profound changes which have occurred in central and eastern Europe (CEE) have left science and technology systems in those countries in a dilapidated state. Reform efforts have focused on restructuring and privatising research institutes and promoting technology transfer between domestic institutions and between domestic and foreign institutions.¹ Both of these reform initiatives are aimed at increasing levels of innovation. Emphasis has been put on introducing the market mechanism. This paper looks at these reforms in CEE, particularly in Poland. The following broad points emerge: First, the track record of efforts to promote technology transfer need to be understood and interpreted in conjunction with a fuller understanding of institutional change, innovation and learning. Technology transfer is meant to encourage innovation, but a range of things need to happen if technology transfer initiatives are to work. Gibbons (Gibbons M. et al., 1994) observed, for example, that effective innovation requires new configurations of knowledge (and skills). The coordination activities required to effect these new configurations within and between organisations and institutions impose their own demands on actors engaged in technology transfer, which rapid privatisation or liberalisation policies in CEE do not begin to address. Reform policies which have focused on introducing new economic incentives need to address change at micro and meso levels. Creating new institutional practice depends not only on creating economic incentives but on wider reform processes, such as creating new organisational practices and encouraging the emergence of new sorts of institutions which can facilitate links. Second, the reform process is a social and political one. Changing the emphasis of policy towards technological development requires a change in power relations so that technological development and innovation, rather than success in science, are prioritised. These political battles greatly influence the pace and nature of change, and in CEE the promotion of technology and innovation is taking place in a context of social upheaval. Social consequences of reform in general and in science and technology in particular are difficult and uncomfortable, and change in this area is perhaps not yet a political priority in some CEE countries.     

Minimum labour standards in a social partnership system: the persistence of the Irish variant of Wages Councils

This article examines the Irish variant of the Wages Councils, Joint Labour Committees (JLC), which set legally binding minimum pay and conditions for low‐paid workers in some sectors. We trace the reasons for the continued existence of the JLC system even after the introduction of a National Minimum Wage in 2000. We also examine its contemporary relevance and the prospects for its retention in the future, particularly in light of growing employer opposition to them.     

From ‘Great’ Leaders to Building Networks: The Emergence of a New Urban Leadership in Southern Europe?

This article reviews the changes that have taken place in local government leadership in France and Spain. It has been argued that political leadership in local government in Southern Europe is characterized by major political leaders who are able to obtain resources from central government through their political connections. However, both French and Spanish local governments have evolved while developing new forms of leadership that are more connected to territory, its people and local issues than to the respective administrative capitals. The article argues that the development of new policies at the local level, the opening of new avenues of citizen participation and the introduction of new methods of public management have changed the relationship between elected representatives and the people. Institutional innovations at the supra‐municipal level have also created a space between regions and municipalities for local leaders to develop their capacity as project leaders and network creators. Cet article examine les changements survenus au niveau de l'autorité gouvernementale locale en France et en Espagne. L'autorité politique dans un gouvernement local du sud de l'Europe se caractérise, assure‐t‐on, par de grands leaders politiques capables d'obtenir des ressources du gouvernement central grâce à leurs relations. Pourtant, les gouvernements locaux français et espagnols ont évolué tout en élaborant des formes originales de leadership, plus proches du territoire, de sa population et des affaires locales que les capitales administratives concernées. La conception de politiques publiques novatrices au plan local, l'ouverture d'autres accès à la participation des citadins et l'introduction de nouvelles méthodes de gestion publique ont modifié le rapport entre représentants élus et population. De plus, des innovations institutionnelles au niveau supra‐municipal ont généré un espace entre régions et municipalités permettant aux leaders locaux de développer leurs aptitudes en tant que chefs de projet et créateurs de réseaux.     

From kites to computers: Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin partnership

The traditional strength of the Pennsylvania economy has been steelmaking and other heavy manufacturing activities. During the past decade Pennsylvania has felt the impact of mature markets for steel and other capital goods, international competition and new technologies, as unemployment in the state has consistently exceeded the national average. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, state policymakers were faced with the problems of how to ease the state's reliance upon these declining industrial sectors, help existing industries within the state to modernize, and stimulate the formation of new growth industries.Recognizing Pennsylvania's history of technological innovation and its strong resource base in corporate and university research and development, state policymakers set out to create flexible public/private partnerships to encourage greater university/industry cooperation, and to focus regional economic development efforts toward innovation and modernization. In 1982, the Pennsylvania General Assembly created the Ben Franklin Partnership program, which established four regional advanced technology centers at major research universities in the state. These advanced technology centers are consortiums of universities, businesses, economic development organizations, financial institutions, and others committed to the goal of job creation through industrial modernization and technological innovation.To date, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has provided $29 million to the advanced technology centers for joint industry/university research and development projects, entrepreneurial development and education and training. This state funding was matched by $90 million from businesses, foundations, and other sources. Because of the long-term nature of such a program, the early results of the Ben Franklin Partnership are modest; however, the program has been successful in establishing relationships among universities, businesses and economic development organizations which will serve as the basis for long term growth.     

Evaluating contemporary social exclusion in Europe: a hierarchical latent class approach

In recent years, the concept of social exclusion has received a renewed attention in scientific research, as well as in politics. In this contribution we propose a hierarchical Latent Class (LC) model for the analysis of differences and similarities about experiences and perceptions of social exclusion among European regions. Social exclusion is a situation that affects individuals, and derives from a multidimensional deprivation in several domains of life. In particular, we identify and define an economic, a social and an institutional dimension. The LCs, which structure the individuals with respect to a set of observed indicators, represent different typologies of social exclusion at individual level according to the three identified dimensions. The regional differences in the latent variable distribution are modeled following a nonparametric approach for the random effects. This multilevel extension leads to the identification of a typology of regions, allowing different social exclusion structures to stand out for different European areas. The hierarchical latent class approach proves to be profitable in investigating the relevance of different risk factors of social exclusion and their relationships, and in verifying whether, and to what extent, the same risks and disadvantages determine the same perception of marginalization and exclusion in different political, economic, social and cultural contexts. The analysis is carried out using the 56.1-2001 Eurobarometer Survey, which focused on poverty and social exclusion situations, from both a subjective and an objective point of view.