Marino Regini

Why deregulate labour markets

Europes mass unemployment and the call for extensive labour market de-regulation have, perhaps more than any other contemporary issue, impassioned political debate and academic research. With contributions from economists, political scientists and sociologists, Why Deregulate Labour Markets? takes a hard look at the empirical connections between unemployment and regulation in Europe today, utilizing both in-depth nation analyses and broader-based international comparisons. The book demonstrates that Europes mass unemployment cannot be directly ascribed to excessive worker protection. Labour market rigidities can, however, be harmful for particular groups. The weight of the evidence suggests that a radical strategy of de-regulation would probably cause more harm than benefits for European economic performance.

Employers, unions and the state: The resurgence of concertation in Italy?

In the 1990s a series of events has signalled the resurgence of concertation between governments and the social partners. Two tripartite agreements on incomes policies and the collective bargaining system, and ‘negotiated’ laws designed to reform pensions and the civil service, have provided the basis for the economic recovery which took place despite the turbulent phase of political transition. Concertation appears to be broader and more stable than it was in the early 1980s, and it also seems to run counter to the prevailing trend in other European countries. It is argued that this outcome is mainly due to changes that have taken place in the nature and strategies of the actors involved.

Tripartite Concertation and Varieties of Capitalism

The relatively recent literature on varieties of capitalism has developed alongside, and also overlapped with, the older debate on tripartite concertation as a form of regulation of the economy. Yet these two strands of research were by no means born with the same objectives and assumptions. This article examines different aspects of the relationship between them. The first three sections discuss the extent to which concerted regulation of the economy may beseen as the key feature of non-liberal capitalism — commonly termed ‘Rhineland capitalism’, ‘coordinated market economies’, and so on. The next two sections raise questions as to its continued viability. Thecentral question addressed is: under what conditions can the concerted regulation of the economy, largely successful in the past decade, but now increasingly questioned, still be a viable alternative to the dominant model of laissez-faire capitalism?

From Tellers to Sellers: Changing Employment Relations in Banks

Once stolid, strictly regulated organizations that epitomized lifetime employment, retail banks are now highly competitive enterprises with fragmented career structures and a new focus on sales and performance. Because banks are a major employer of labor, such changes have important implications for the workplace experiences and job opportunities of a significant proportion of the workforce in OECD and newly industrialized countries. This book is the outcome of intensive study of selected banks in Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States. As part of a larger project on industrial relations and human resource management practices, researchers in each country explored the changing industry context and competitive strategies in relation to a number of employment relations practices, such as skill formation and development, work organization, staffing arrangements, job security, compensation, and industrial relations. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the main research findings. The country chapters present detailed analyses of the findings, and the conclusion assesses the role of markets, technology, and institutions in employment relations and discusses the interpretive frameworks that help make sense of their change and variation across countries.

European Universities and the Challenge of the Market

Contents: Introduction: European Universities Meet the Market Marino Regini PART I: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES 1. Re-designing Curricula: The Involvement of Economic Actors Gabriele Ballarino 2. The Re-organization of Research Sabrina Colombo 3. Student Services and the Labour Market Renata Semenza 4. Funding, Assessment and Governance Loris Perotti 5. The Challenge of the Market Marino Regini PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES 6. UK: The University as Economic Actor Sabrina Colombo 7. The Netherlands: A Difficult Marketization Loris Perotti 8. Germany: Continuity through Change Gabriele Ballarino 9. Investing in Change: The Uneven Outcomes of French Higher Education Renata Semenza 10. Italy: Gradual Changes and an Uncertain Autonomy Gabriele Ballarino and Loris Perotti 11. Spain: Major Reforms and Mixed Performance Loris Perotti Conclusions: Where Are European Universities Going Marino Regini References Index

Labour Conflicts and Industrial Relations in Italy

There exists a wide-ranging literature on the peculiarities and distortions of post-war Italian economic development, and the reader is referred to this for a detailed account of the process. In the present context it will suffice to describe those aspects of the Italian economic system which help explain the course of industrial conflict and the nature of trade union policy. We shall, therefore, limit ourselves to only a few points. Some basic statistical data will be found in Appendix I.

Governance Reforms and Organizational Dilemmas in European Universities.

The aim of this article is to examine how European universities, confronted with national reforms of their governance, have tried to resolve the dilemmas traditionally associated with internal reorganization, the redistribution of power, and the reformulation of teaching and research policies. The article does not focus on the central governance of universities—which is the object of most current analyses—but on their “peripheral” units and decision-making processes. There are four basic organizational dilemmas encountered when structuring the internal organization and functioning of universities. They concern the degree of differentiation and integration of the organizational units, the role and modes of action of middle management, the search for synergies and the optimal extent of aggregation, and the degree of centralization or decentralization of functions and processes. The article offers a comparative analysis of eight universities in four European countries—the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and France—aimed at understanding how these universities have dealt with such organizational dilemmas.

Trade Unions and Employment Relations in Italy during the Economic Crisis

Abstract Many of the usual assumptions about the impact of the economic crisis on trade unions and employment relations only partially fit the Italian case. Trade unions during the crisis showed resilience both organisationally and as important actors in economic and political life. Also, the national industry level reaffirmed itself as the key level in industrial relations. Explanations of these unexpected outcomes have to do with some features of all three actors of Italian employment relations. Trade unions have become over time a relevant actor not just in the industrial relations arena but in several other spheres of Italian society and politics. As to employers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have tended to prefer national sectoral-level agreements and set rather low wage standards, while employers’ associations have shown an organisational interest in preserving centralised bargaining where they play a role. Finally, governments have been too weak and short-lived to follow a consistent strategy of unilateral decision-making.

Territorial Differences in the Italian ‘Social Model’

Colombo S. and Regini M. Territorial differences in the Italian ‘social model’, Regional Studies. As elsewhere in Europe in the post-Second World War period the Italian political élites shared the belief that market economies should not be left entirely to the market, but rather follow some sort of ‘social model’. However, while Italy did join Continental European countries in developing such an institutional arrangement, this was differently shaped in the different territorial areas of the country. This paper briefly sketches what is commonly regarded as the typical configuration of this social model and then describes how each of its features works differently in the different territorial contexts, finding a deep dividing line between the Centre–North and the South.

Leading the Change in Europe: Early Implementation of the ‘Bologna Process’

The reforms of the Italian universities implemented during this period were characterized by two unique features that were to condition their outcome. On the one hand, a favourable policy window made it possible to reform the university curricula, following the Bologna Declaration, of which Italy had been one of the promoters. On the other hand, the implementation of that reform suffered significant shortcomings and raised the perception of ineffectiveness and inefficiency. Consequently, governments started to include a number of restrictions on the universities’ autonomy, and to establish standards which the universities were called upon to conform to, while reintroducing a logic of centralized bureaucratic control. Moreover, the universities’ behaviour contributed towards creating mistrust in the academic world, which was to be of key importance as a basis for subsequent legislative measures.