Mark Harcourt

The Importance of Employment Protection for Skill Development in Coordinated Market Economies

During the heyday of neoliberalism, employment protection was widely believed to be one of the main causes of Europes poor economic performance and high unemployment. We challenge this view and instead argue that employment protection is crucial to preserving Europes export success in higher value-added industries. In particular, we explore the relationship between employment protection and skills development.

Age discrimination and working life: Perspectives and contestations - a review of the contemporary literature

This review highlights some of the principal issues and debates surrounding age discrimination at the workplace. Essentially, the existing research in this area can be divided into three broad, although somewhat overlapping, categories. The first explores the underlying causes and consequences of age discrimination at the workplace from one or other theoretical tradition. The second broad body of literature encompasses empirical studies which document the nature and extent of age discrimination, based on the use of official statistics, and/or firm-level survey evidence. The third explores the effects of various governmental initiatives to reduce the incidence of age discrimination and policy options in this area. Even though age discrimination is widely accepted to be prevalent, its causes are rather more contentious. Age discrimination has variously been ascribed to market imperfections, the product of rational choices and the effects of long-term changes in the nature of the economy. Policy interventions may be prompted by economic pressure, demographic changes or cultural shifts, and have involved voluntary codes as well as legislation. Although voluntary codes have generally proved ineffective, the literature indicates that more formal regulations may still have only limited efficacy, underscoring the deeply rooted nature of age discrimination in society.

Online social networks: an emergent recruiter tool for attracting and screening

Purpose – The increased popularity in using online social networks by recruiters has received much positive attention, particularly in the popular press. Using social network theory this paper aims to examine how the structure and governance mechanisms of these networks can assist this process. The authors ask: how do recruiters use online social networks to effectively attract and screen prospective job applicants?Design/methodology/approach – The semi‐structured interview approach is used to gather data from 25 recruitment specialists.Findings – The connector role is identified as a specific attraction mechanism recruiters use to create numerous weak ties, where some are so weak they barely constitute ties at all. The authors then identify branding, transparency and data specificity as three mechanisms recruiters use to strengthen these ties when performing the attracting and screening functions.Originality/value – This is the first paper to analyse online recruitment, using social network theory, and h...

Discrimination in hiring against immigrants and ethnic minorities: the effect of unionization

There has been a long debate concerning whether unions are exclusive or inclusive with respect to immigrants and ethnic minorities. In the exclusive view of unions, unionization is expected to increase the likelihood of employers asking questions that discriminate against immigrants and ethnic minorities and decrease the likelihood of employers asking Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) questions related to immigrant or ethnic minority status. The contrary is expected for the inclusive view. Our analysis, using New Zealand data for job applications, provides some support for the inclusive view of unions, as the higher the unionization rate, the more likely EEO information is sought, but no relationship is found between unionization rate and discriminatory questioning. This suggests that unions are probably helpful in promoting diversity but not yet in combating discrimination against immigrants and ethnic minorities in hiring.

The Impact of Workers' Compensation Experience-Rating on Discriminatory Hiring Practices

The widespread adoption of experience-rating has been a major trend in workers’ compensation systems for over a decade (O’Grady 1999). Under this approach, a firm’s insurance premium rate for its industry or class is adjusted upwards or downwards to reflect the costs of the insuranc e claims made by that firm’s workers. Firms that have higher-than-normal claims levels are punished with a penalty, paid on top of their base premium. In contrast, firms that have lower-than-normal claims levels are rewarded with a partial rebate (discount) of their base premium. Many workers’ compensation authorities across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand adopted experience-rating as a pricing mechanism to encourage employer investment in hazard prevention measures. Although earlier research (e.g., Chelius and Smith 1983) indicated that experience-rating was not associated with improved health and safety performance in the United States, the evidence from more recent studies suggests that experience-rating reduces fatalities in Canada (Bruce and Atkins 1993), lowers the reported accident rate in Canada (Thomason and Pozzebon 2002) and the United States (Worrall and Butler 1988), shortens claim duration in the United States (Krueger 1990), and encourages better safety practices in Canada (Kralj 1994). However, most researchers have been cautious about crediting experience-rating for lowering overall actual injury rates, because experience-rating provides incentives for injury under-reporting (McClintock 1994; Samaras 2001) and undesirable employer activities, such as the contracting out of hazardous activities and excessive claims management (Kralj 1994). Before experience-rating becomes further entrenched in the workers’ compensation system, understanding any other unintended, negative side effects remains important.

The Importance of Legislated Employment Mark Harcourt, Protection for Worker Commitment in Geoffrey Wood Coordinated Market Economies

This article extends contemporary debates about corporate governance, institutions, and firm-level behavioral effects, with a more systematic analysis of how one institution, legislated employment protection (employment security), deepens the reliance of firms in coordinated market economies (CMEs) on cooperative employer employee relations for their competitive success (cf. Whitley 1999, 38; Wood 2001, 252). This represents a meso or mid-level approach, as opposed to existing studies, which adopt a micro-level focus on industry case studies or a macro-level focus on cross-national differences in entire clusters of employment practices. We begin with a brief overview of two schools of institutional thought: varieties of capitalism (VOC) and regulation theory (RT). We then define and describe the key elements of legislated employment protection (employment security) as an institution, in addition to how these elements differ across CME countries, and between CMEs and the United States, the liberal market economy (LME) with the least employment protection. We then discuss the importance of worker commitment to CME economic success, and the crucial part played by legislated employment protection in engendering that commitment. We acknowledge that legislated employment protection may have negative lethargy effects, but argue that these are potentially less damaging in CMEs than LMEs for the same degree of protection. Next, we suggest practical ways that CMEs might modify legislated employment protection to both allay the negative lethargy effects and enhance the positive commitment effects. Finally, we conclude by stressing that despite its economic importance, legislated employment protection in CMEs remains politically fragile, in being vulnerable to attack by employers pursuing narrow, private interests.

The consequences of neo‐corporatism: a syncretic approach

Seeks to highlight the range of potential benefits flowing from neo‐corporatism. Profiles some of the principle critiques of the neo‐liberal orthodoxy followed by a more detailed review of the benefits in terms of limiting inflation, generating employment, promoting greater social equity, reducing the incidence of industrial conflict and providing the basis for a more stable growth trajectory. Considers the area where evidence is lacking and uses previous research for its evidence.