TY - JOUR
T1 - Economic globalization and convergence in labor market regulation: An empirical assessment
AU - Gahan, Peter
AU - Mitchell, Richard
AU - Cooney, Sean
AU - Stewart, Andrew
AU - Cooper, Brian
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - A major question for the comparative analysis of industrial relations and labor market institutions has been the extent to which labor laws in different countries have converged or diverged over time. A second question is whether any convergence between labor law systems is associated with economic globalization. Using a new measure of the protective strength of a country s labor market regulation (the Longitudinal Labor Regulation Index), this study compares the evolution of labor laws in six countries (Australia, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States) for the period 1970 to 2005. We assess whether there has been a convergence in the protective strength of labor market regulation between these countries or ongoing divergences between them. In particular, we test whether there is evidence of formal or functional convergence, weak or strong convergence, simple or bipolar convergence, and whether convergence is associated with globalization and economic integration between the countries included in our study. Our analyses show that over the period from 1970 to the mid-1980s the protective strength of labor laws actually diverged, but began to converge thereafter. Although we find evidence of both formal and functional convergence during this later period, this propensity has been weak, and tended toward a pattern of bipolar convergence. At the same time, the data do not indicate that any of these processes of convergence were associated with an Americanization of labor law, or a race to the bottom.
AB - A major question for the comparative analysis of industrial relations and labor market institutions has been the extent to which labor laws in different countries have converged or diverged over time. A second question is whether any convergence between labor law systems is associated with economic globalization. Using a new measure of the protective strength of a country s labor market regulation (the Longitudinal Labor Regulation Index), this study compares the evolution of labor laws in six countries (Australia, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States) for the period 1970 to 2005. We assess whether there has been a convergence in the protective strength of labor market regulation between these countries or ongoing divergences between them. In particular, we test whether there is evidence of formal or functional convergence, weak or strong convergence, simple or bipolar convergence, and whether convergence is associated with globalization and economic integration between the countries included in our study. Our analyses show that over the period from 1970 to the mid-1980s the protective strength of labor laws actually diverged, but began to converge thereafter. Although we find evidence of both formal and functional convergence during this later period, this propensity has been weak, and tended toward a pattern of bipolar convergence. At the same time, the data do not indicate that any of these processes of convergence were associated with an Americanization of labor law, or a race to the bottom.
U2 - 10.5131/AJCL.2011.0028
DO - 10.5131/AJCL.2011.0028
M3 - Article
VL - 60
SP - 703
EP - 741
JO - American Journal of Comparative Law
JF - American Journal of Comparative Law
SN - 0002-919X
IS - 3
ER -