The Geometry of Comparative Industrial Relations: Efficiency,Equity and Voice

This article focuses on John Budd’s efficiency, equity and voice concepts. The discussion considers the concepts’ utility as a framework for analyzing different national patterns of industrial relations in a comparative perspective. The article considers eight forms of employment relationships: social partnerships, sectoral bargaining, centralized awards, enterprise unionism, exclusive representation, codetermination, the US new deal system and voluntarism. The author concludes that this is a useful framework for such purposes, and that it is following the industrial relations tradition of pluralism.