Mike Ingham

Women's Employment in Transition, 1992–4: the Case of Poland

Since the early 1990s the Polish economy has, in the move towards a market economy, undergone substantial economic reforms which resulted initially in a severe recession and notably in widespread unemployment. In a country where women have traditionally played a major role in the workforce it is pertinent to ask how their role has been affected during the early years of transition to a market economy, what factors explain this, and what their employment prospects are likely to be in a free market economy. After sketching the key features of womens employment in Poland pre-transition the article then addresses these questions using data drawn mainly from the Labour Force Surveys of 1992 and 1994. It finds that womens labour market position has been changing and in 1994 could be said to be mixed: while on the one hand it seems to be deteriorating (rising rates of inactivity and unemployment, the feminization of part-time work), on the other women seem to have been relatively protected from the worst effects of marketization and are in a better position than men according to some unemployment indicators. Prospects for womens employment under a free market economy also appear to be mixed, with much depending on whether the Polish government introduces a framework of national measures to support and encourage women who enter into paid employment.

Characteristics and Customs: Empirical Evidence on the Union‐joining Decision

Presents the results of a survey which re‐examines the question of which workers choose to belong to unions in the light of recent theoretical developments in the area. However, the results also indicate that various personal and job‐related characteristics are important and this suggests that unions are at least perceived to provide services from which individuals can readily be excluded if they do not join. In an era when unions can no longer rely on closed shop provisions to uphold their membership totals, such findings have important policy implications.

Agricultural Reform in Post-Transition Poland

Agriculture occupies a unique position in the economy of transition Poland: largely non-collectivised during the communist regime, a large proportion of its agricultural output was, and continues to be, produced on small, private, family-run farms. In this article it is argued that the agricultural community is more at risk than many others in contemporary Polish society from the dangers inherent in the transition to a market-driven economy. If Poland is to become a fully fledged, Western-style nation, radical restructuring of the agricultural sector is essential, although to date reform has been rather marginal. Without a quickening of the pace of agricultural reform, Poland is unlikely to achieve her goal of full EU membership by the beginning of the next century. The portents that this will happen are not, however, promising.

Women in the Polish Labour Market: Is Transition a Threat?

The preceding papers in this volume serve as ample testimony to the fact that progress — economic, political or social — in the transition countries has not been as impressive as had been initially hoped. What has not so far received emphasis is that, in virtually every case, it has been developments on the labour market which represent the most conspicuous example of the costs imposed by the systemic change. This has been particularly true in the case of Poland where the emergence of mass unemployment was an almost immediate consequence of the launch of the Balcerowicz Plan in January 1990. Furthermore, the recent reductions in the numbers registered as jobless are too small to be hailed as a long-awaited breakthrough.

On the solidarity of the union membership decision in Poland

It is frequently held that the old “official” unions have largely been discredited, while numerous studies point to employee dissatis‐faction with the performance of unions new and old in the era of transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, membership has not collapsed, although the unions themselves exaggerate its total. It is somewhat surprising therefore that little work has been undertaken on the determinants of the individual union‐joining decision in the new environment. This paper undertakes such a study for the case of Poland. Notwithstanding reputation effects, two further forces have accompanied the collapse of the communist regime and are likely to have reduced the attractiveness of union membership to workers. The first is the widespread loss of the distributive role with regard to important private goods which the unions previously possessed, while the second is the challenge to the strength of the social custom of union membership which systemic change has occasioned. While the transition economies are often held to have a distinct industrial relations system, in Poland at least, the determinants of the individual union‐joining decision appear very similar to those which have been uncovered in western contexts.

Strikes in the Community: addressing some early questions

In post–1992 Europe, capital will tend to flow to areas of lowest unit output cost. Difference in the quality of labour-management relations, here proxied by strike activity, could be an important component of such costs. The performance of strike models for EC member states is examined, paying particular attention to the evidence for reaction equality to macroeconomic stimuli and for the existence of ‘strike waves’. Both hypotheses are rejected, meaning firstly, that there is no justification for datapooling but, secondly, that member states are free to pursue policies to improve their industrial relations environments without fear they will be undermined by developments elsewhere.

Strikes and deindustrialization in the European Community: 1970–86

Strike activity within the European Community was markedly lower in the 1980s compared with the levels experienced in the 1970s. Over the same period, deindustrialization proceeded apace. The findings of this article suggest that up to 20% of the reduction in work stoppages may simply have been due to the shrinkage of the manufacturing sector. Moreover, a concurrent finding is that strike-proneness within the expanding service industries did not fall in line with that of other areas of activity. These results suggest the need for a careful reappraisal of the meaningfulness of conventional macroeconomic strike models.