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Begin New Search Publishing Institution Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Publication Year within 25 Years

91. Collective Bargaining Practices in Eastern Europe: Case Study Evidence from Romania

Author:
Aurora Trif
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
There are several studies on recent developments in collective bargaining in Eastern Europe, but there is still a debate about the extent to which collective bargaining practices resemble those in continental Western Europe. This paper aims to contribute to this debate, by examining primary data on collective bargaining practices in Romania using an actor-centred institutionalist approach. It focuses on collective bargaining in four large chemical companies. Comparisons are made to other countries in order to highlight the developments in Romanian cases. Unexpectedly, the study's findings point to an increase in state intervention in establishing the terms and conditions of employment after 1989, due to the state’s new roles during the transformation process that affected job security. The study suggests a considerable increase in the influence of top managers in determining pay and working conditions, while trade unions retained the considerable influence over social benefits in large companies. The findings show continuance of certain pre-1989 practices, such as a persistence of high state intervention and a limited independence of the trade unions from the management. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of institutional changes in the context of a shift from a centrally planned economy to a market-based economy.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Romania

92. No Exit from the Joint Decision Trap? Can German Federalism Reform Itself?

Author:
Fritz W. Scharpf
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The unique institutions that make up Germany's "unitary federal state," long considered part of the country's post-war success story, are now generally perceived as a "joint-decision trap" impeding effective policy responses to new economic and demographic challenges at both levels of government. Nevertheless, a high-powered bicameral Commission set up in the fall of 2003 failed to reach agreement on constitutional reforms. The paper analyzes the misguided procedural and substantive choices that led to this failure, and it discusses the possibility of asymmetric constitutional solutions that might enhance the capacity for autonomous action at both levels.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

93. Strategic Unionism in Eastern Europe: The Case of Romania

Author:
Aurora Trif and Karl Koch
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The shift from centrally planned economies to market-oriented economic models presented trade unions in Eastern European countries with crucial choices in relation to their roles as industrial relations actors. This paper investigates whether (and why) unions have chosen adversarial and/or co-operative relationships with the employers, based on a strategic choice conceptual framework. It focuses on trade union relations with employers at national, sectoral and company levels in Romania. It is argued that adversarial and co-operative relations between unions and employers developed simultaneously after 1989, but co-operation was the prevalent approach. Evidence suggests that ideological legacies, former institutions and the initial decision to participate in the macroeconomic transformation played a key role in shaping unions' choices towards co-operation with employers. Although this paper confirms the widespread view that labour is rather weak in Eastern Europe, it indicates that unions can be proactive and shape their own future if they have the capacity to mobilise their members and union leaders have the skills and willingness to use both conflict and co-operation in their relationships with employers. The comparison of evidence from Romania with other Eastern European countries reflects on the stage of Romanian transformation and also illustrates a wider possible applicability of the theoretical framework employed for the study.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Romania

94. Economic Reform and the Political Economy of the German Welfare State

Author:
Wolfgang Streeck and Christine Trampusch
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The key to economic reform in Germany is a significant reduction in the high costs of labour.The main factor driving up German labour costs is the funding of the extensive German welfare state through social insurance contributions that in effect operate like payroll taxes on employment. The paper discusses the political causes of the rise in non-wage labour costs since the 1970s. It then proceeds to show how a variety of opportunities for political blockade in the German political economy dim the prospect for effective reform in the foreseeable future.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

95. A New Form of Governance? Comparing the Open Method of Coordination to Multilateral Surveillance by the IMF and the OECD

Author:
Armin Schäfer
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) has received much attention in the recent EU-literature. The predominant view claims that the OMC is not only a new but also an effective policy-making instrument. This paper raises doubts about both claims by offering a comparison of soft law policy coordination in three international organizations. More specifically, this paper compares the European Employment Strategy – which was the first use of the OMC – to the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines of the EU, the OECD Economic Surveys, and the IMF Article IV Consultations. Based on expert interviews, it seeks to demonstrate that these procedures are forms of multilateral surveillance that do not differ in kind. Such a comparative analysis of the OMC refutes claims to its novelty. Having compared the four procedures, a more general model of multilateral surveillance consisting of six elements is generated that facilitates further comparisons. This paper concludes that governments select voluntarist procedures mainly to secure their own competencies rather than to realize common goals. Effective problem-solving is therefore not necessarily the dominant objective of soft law.
Topic:
Economics, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

96. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' – Esping-Andersen's Regime Typology and the Religious Roots of the Western Welfare State

Author:
Philip Manow
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Esping-Andersen's, Three World of Welfare Capitalism' has been the most influential contribution of recent years to the comparative welfare state research literature. According to Esping-Andersen, the welfare state basically comes in three variants: as a social-democratic, a conservative, or as a liberal regime. Yet, at a closer look particularly the conservative regime type proves to be a highly problematic category. The article claims that major problems of the 'three worlds'-typology originate from Esping-Andersen's sole focus on the class conflict, whereas he only very selectively accounts for the importance of religious cleavages. Major empirical problems of his approach vanish once we take into account not only the impact of the Catholic social doctrine on the development of the welfare state, but consider also the influence of social Protestantism, especially that of reformed, ,free', disestablished or dissenting Protestantism. The paper substantiates this claim with data-analysis for the early formative period of welfare state formation (1890-1920) and for its times of growth and crisis (1960s-1990).
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and Human Welfare

97. The Dog that Would Never Bite? The Past and Future of the Stability and Growth Pact

Author:
Martin Heipertz and Amy Verdun
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This paper analyses the underlying reasons for the creation of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and its subsequent development in recent years. The paper examines the economic and political factors behind it, including the role of economic ideas, experts, politicians, institutional arrangements in the Maastricht Treaty, domestic politics, and the exceptional position of Germany in the realm of monetary integration in the EU. It concludes that a set of commonly held beliefs together with a corresponding power-political constellation explain the creation of the SGP.
Topic:
International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

98. The Politics of the German Company Network

Author:
Martin Höpner and Lothar Krempel
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
For over 100 years, the German company network was a major feature of organized corporate governance in Germany. This paper uses network visualization techniques and qualitative-historical analysis to discuss the structure, origins and development of this network and to analyze the reasons for its recent erosion. Network visualization makes it possible to identify crucial entanglement patterns that can be traced back historically. In three phases of network formation – the 1880s, 1920s and the 1950s –, capital entanglement resulted from the interplay of company behavior and government policy. In its heyday, the company network was de facto encompassing and provided its core participants, especially the banks, with a national, macroeconomic perspective. In the 1970s, a process of increased competition among financial companies set in. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining returns from blockholding and increased opportunity costs made network dissolution a thinkable option for companies. Because of the strategic reorientation of the largest banks toward investment banking, ties between banks and industry underwent functional changes. Since the year 2000, the German government's tax policy has sped up network erosion. Vanishing capital ties imply a declining degree of strategic coordination among large German companies.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

99. Stabilizing Postwar Europe: Aligning Domestic and International Goals

Author:
Armin Schäfer
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This paper looks at the historical developments that led to the Schuman Plan in 1950, which today is seen as a starting signal for the European integration process. It argues that this announcement by the French foreign minister constituted a genuine change of strategy that can only be understood in the light of the preceding historical chain of events. The first steps of European integration were part of a search for suitable institutions capable of dealing with Europe's economic and political problems, which also involved the Bretton Woods institutions, Marshall Aid and the OEEC, and, finally, the ECSC. These organizations' respective fate depended on the strategies of key states, which in turn were driven by domestic concerns. Aligning their interests took several steps and was only completed when all three organizations existed in parallel. Throughout this process, all states had to abandon their preferred course of action and learn to settle for second best.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

100. Mechanisms in the Analysis of Macro-Social Phenomena

Author:
Renate Mayntz
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The paper is a contribution to a forthcoming special issue of the Journal Philosophy of the Social Sciences, edited by Andreas Pickel. The term (social) mechanism can be found frequently in recent social science literature, but only few authors have attempted to spell out systematically what exactly the term refers to. The paper begins by trying to close this gap. Use of the term (social) mechanism is the hallmark of an approach that is critical of the emphasis on correlational analysis, and on the covering-law model of explanation. The term mechanism, it is argued, should be used to refer to recurrent processes generating a specific kind of outcome or event; mechanism statements are accordingly statements about recurrent processes. Explanation of social macro phenomena by mechanisms typically involves causal regression to lower level elements, as stipulated by methodological individualism. But while we already have a good-sized tool-box of mechanism models at hand to explain emergent effects of different forms of collective behavior, we lack a similarly systematic treatment of generative mechanisms where structural configurations and corporate actor constellations play the decisive role in the production of an effect.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and Human Welfare