The Role of the State in Central and Eastern European Industrial Relations: The Case of Minimum Wages
Governments in Central and Eastern Europe are dominant players in the field of industrial relations, acting in a liberalization dilemma between the needs of further state regulation to compensate the shortcomings of autonomous self-regulation by social actors and the demands of liberalized markets in the enlarged EU. Compared with the different types of industrial relation systems in Western Europe, a transitional model with specific etatist features has emerged. This becomes particularly evident when analyzing the decision-making process in Tripartite Councils and its function in determining national minimum wages. The article underlines the recent trends of differentiation and convergence of such pay principles as well as urgent tasks of the state to regulate the unsolved problems of poverty, labor markets and labor standards.
Arbeitsbeziehungen in Mittel- und Osteuropa
Die Arbeitsbeziehungen der einzelnen mittel- und osteuropaischen Beitrittskandidaten weisen einerseits Unterschiede beim gewerkschaftlichen Organisationsgrad und der Streikanfalligkeit auf. Andererseits zeigen sich in dieser Landergruppe wichtige Gemeinsamkeiten, vor allem bei der Dominanz dezentraler Tarifverhandlungen. Da sich dies zugleich von den meisten bisherigen EU-Mitgliedslandern unterscheidet, konnen die Arbeitsbeziehungen in Mittel- und Osteuropa eher in die Nahe des angelsachsischen als des kontinentaleuropaischen Modells gestellt werden. Dem entspricht auch die geringe Bedeutung, die Betriebsrate dort in den industriellen Beziehungen spielen. Arbeitskampfe sind vor allem im Privatsektor selten, was sich im Zuge der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung kunftig jedoch andern konnte.
Did the metamorphosis from Export Processing Zones to Special Economic Zones improve the efficiency of trade enclaves in India?
In this paper, the efficiency of seven conventional Special Economic Zones in India is analyzed, by adopting a stochastic production frontier technique, for the period between 1986–1987 and 2007–2008.Results indicate that although the efficiency scores of these enclaves have improved over the years, specifically with the introduction of the SEZ policy (2000–2001), it is far below the threshold level as identified in the literature. Besides, one can also observe a discrepancy emerging between better export earning zones and efficient zones. On the determinants side, policy intervention and large geographical area, accompanied by clustering of units, are found to have impacted the efficiency scores of these enclaves positively.