Philip B. Whyman

Labour Market Flexibility

Acceptance of the existence of a supply-side determined equilibrium rate of unemployment by Third Way economists implies both a rejection of Keynesian macroeconomic policies and a renewed emphasis upon supply-side interventions intended to promote market clearing through reducing imperfections, whilst modifying institutions and policies to promote productivity growth and higher rates of employment consistent with a low rate of inflation. Whereas ‘old monetarism’ perceived market imperfections as being associated with the activity of trade unions, the generosity of social security benefits and labour regulation (i.e. minimum wages, employment protection legislation), for ‘new monetarism’ the market failure is a lack of training and skills (Arestis and Sawyer, 1998: 37). In this scenario, the rate of employment is determined through the interaction of market forces in the labour market, and therefore the attempt to reduce unemployment should be located in this micro-market.

Partnership, flexible workplace practices and the realisation of mutual gains: evidence from the British WERS 2004 dataset

This paper examines the potential for workplace partnership to produce mutual gains through the implementation of high-performance, flexible-working initiatives. Using a large manager–employee matched dataset, originating in the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), it focuses upon a range of related workplace practices reported by manager and employees as available or in use in their establishment, to consider the extent to which their implementation is associated with mutual benefits (positive-sum), reported by both managers and employee respondents, or whether gains for one group occur at potential cost to another (zero-sum). Bivariate probit models allow measures of manager and employee-reported organisational outcomes to endogenously affect each other, first from a managerial perspective, second from an employee perspective and third from a combined managerial and employee perspective. The results highlight the significant potential for partnership agreements to deliver mutual gains, albeit within a narrower range of workplace practices than might be the case if the innovation package was designed with the primary interest of only one group in mind. Unsurprisingly, managers and employees were found to have different perspectives in relation to partnership arrangements, with the latter having the more realistic expectations of achievable outcomes. However, since partnership agreements, as defined by this paper, remain underdeveloped within UK workplaces, with only 8% of the sampled 23,000 employees benefiting from such workplace arrangements, the evidence advanced by this paper would indicate a potential scope for realisable gains deriving from well-designed, participatory forms of partnership.

Co-operative principles and the evolution of the ‘dismal science’: The historical interaction between co-operative and mainstream economics

The development of co-operatives has been (and is) influenced by ideas and conceptions first developed by mainstream economics, yet there is commonly claimed to be a disinterest (or misunderstanding) among economists relating to the advantages and challenges posed by co-operative organisations. Yet a broader perspective demonstrates that whatever distance between the economic profession and the co-operative movement may exist today, there has certainly been a close association throughout most of their shared history. This paper, therefore, seeks to illuminate the perspectives adopted, and insights into co-operatives developed, by leading economists since 1776.

British Trade Unions and Economic and Monetary Union

British labor movement attitudes toward European integration and, most recently, toward participation in economic and monetary union (EMU) have evolved from hostility to firm support. This article analyzes the contradictions in the trade union desire for a European social model (ESM) within a neoliberal EMU framework and indicates the need for a modification of the current trade union strategy.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is typically associated with a variety of economic benefits, ranging from increased productivity to enhanced innovation and technological development.

Workplace Flexibility Practices in SMEs: Relationship with Performance Via Redundancies, Absenteeism, and Financial Turnover

This workplace flexibility study uses primary data on private sector small and medium‐sized enterprises () in ancashire, nited ingdom, collected in 2009 during the recent “credit crunch” recession. Key features include: (1) objective measures of performance; (2) a focus on the previously relatively neglected relationship between workplace flexibility practices () and three performance indicators, namely, redundancies, absenteeism, and financial turnover; and (3) a timely contribution to research on . Numerical, functional, and cost analyses, via zero‐inflated oisson and linear regressions, control for and market characteristics. Despite having limited resources, the results show a significant section of to be innovative and entrepreneurial organizations, embracing advancements in employment relations regarding employee discretion, training, participative working arrangements, and/or job security. Moreover, results indicate that have the potential to assist in responding to periods of constrained demand. Flexitime and job sharing are associated with low permanent‐employee redundancies. Training, job security, and family‐friendly practices relate to low absenteeism with reductions of up to six annual days per worker. Job security and profit‐related pay are associated with high financial turnover. Staff pay‐freeze links with high financial turnover, but to the detriment of redundancies and absenteeism, whereas management pay‐cuts or management pay‐freeze relate to low financial turnover. On a cautionary note, spending cuts, often enforced by policymakers, may be of limited benefit to , and thus other approaches would appear more fruitful.

Workplace Flexibility Practices and Corporate Performance: Evidence from the British Private Sector

This paper investigates the relationship between workplace flexibility practices (WFPs) and corporate performance using data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Disaggregating WFPs into numerical, functional and cost aspects enables the analysis of their relationships to an objective measure of corporate performance, namely workplace financial turnover. Furthermore separate analyses are presented for different types of workplace: differentiated by workforce size; ownership; age; wage level; and unionization. Results show that different types of workplaces need to pay attention to the mix of WFPs they adopt. We find that certain cost WFPs (profit‐related pay, merit pay and payment‐by‐results) have strong positive relationships with corporate performance. However, training delivers mixed corporate performance results, while the extent of job autonomy and the proportion of part‐time employees in a workplace have an inverse association with corporate performance. Given the limited existing research examining disaggregated measures of WFPs and objectively measured corporate performance, this paper offers useful insights for firms, policy makers and the overall economy.

An Analysis of Wage-Earner Funds in Sweden: Distinguishing Myth from Reality

This article analyses the performance of one of the most innovative ‘experiments’ in the extension of infiuence over the economic sphere, namely the Swedish wage-earner funds (WEFs). It examines the ability of the WEFs to pursue economic democratization in terms of macroeconomic, .nancial and democratic objectives. Results are mixed, with favourable .nancial and macroeconomic performance constrained by the limited size of the scheme, whereas employee infiuence through shareholding was inconsistent and of little significance. Nevertheless, WEF performance has legitimized collective investment funds as a potential instrument of economic democratization, while demonstrating that pursuit of social goals need not undermine allocative efficiency.

The economics of Brexit

This book presents a comprehensive evaluation of the likely economic impact upon the UK economy arising from Brexit. It seeks to assess both the methods adopted, and conclusions reached, by the existing economic studies, and supplements this by providing additional evidence to assist the reader in forming their own assessment of the relative merits of the different approaches. It additionally outlines the options available to policy makers for the formation of an economic strategy capable of adapting the economy to the challenges and opportunities presented by Brexit. Finally, it outlines and comments upon the range of alternative models of future trading relationships that are available to the UK, both in relation to the EU and the rest of the world.

Workplace flexibility practices and corporate performance

This paper investigates the relationship between workplace flexibility practices (WFPs) and corporate performance using data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Disaggregating WFPs into numerical, functional and cost aspects enables the analysis of their relationships to an objective measure of corporate performance, namely workplace financial turnover. Furthermore separate analyses are presented for different types of workplace: differentiated by workforce size; ownership; age; wage level; and unionization. Results show that different types of workplaces need to pay attention to the mix of WFPs they adopt. We find that certain cost WFPs (profit‐related pay, merit pay and payment‐by‐results) have strong positive relationships with corporate performance. However, training delivers mixed corporate performance results, while the extent of job autonomy and the proportion of part‐time employees in a workplace have an inverse association with corporate performance. Given the limited existing research examining disaggregated measures of WFPs and objectively measured corporate performance, this paper offers useful insights for firms, policy makers and the overall economy.