Book Review: Labour Law and Economic Policy by Todolí-Signes, Adrián Todolí-SignesAdrián. Labour Law and Economic Policy. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024, Oxford. pp. 430. Paperback £37.79, eBook £61.20, ISBN 9781509973903

Mr Walker believed that the principal point to emerge in the discussions is the importance of the link between wage policy and other social and economic policies. There are various elements in economic policy — monetary, investment and fiscal policies, etc. — which in centralised planning systems are thoroughly integrated, and in others (particularly where planners are operating in what is basically an unplanned economy with a large private sector) are rather loosely linked and integrated. There are at least two aspects of economic and social policy which are often left vague and shadowy: wage policy and labour policy — those measures which influence the labour market directly, not through the wage mechanism. It seems that there are certain spontaneous processes in wage determination and in the operation of the labour market (which in turn influences wages) that impede other policies, and probably the most central message of the Symposium is that the formulation and implementation of any comprehensive plan cannot ignore these processes. Clearly, these spontaneous processes are not producing the results we desire, otherwise there would be no need for a wage policy.

Labour and employment regulation is a complex and ever changing area of the law fed by social and economic policy, politics, external and internal pressures, and cultural influences. In isolation, labour regulation is particular to the country in which it is found. However, in a world growing smaller due to globalisation,2 the differences in labour regulation between jurisdictions can become an issue in cross-border business transactions and may even affect a multi-national company’s choice of investment. The flexibility of labour regulation can affect the attractiveness of a jurisdiction, as evidenced by the outsourcing of labour intensive sectors of many corporations to developing countries which lack the expense of protective labour regulation and benefit from a cheaper labour force.3 Legal systems within the EU have been on a process of slow convergence since the 1950s. However, in examining legal systems with a view to determining their core similarities, some exhibit areas of convergence while other aspects remain quite different.4 Even when comparing those systems that are similar, there remain distinctive characteristics distinguishing one from another. There are differences that seem irreconcilable even within legal groups such as those jurisdictions adhering to the common law or civil law systems. While certain rules and solutions may seem alike, legal cultures and traditions can differ significantly,5 leading to fundamental differences in approach to regulation and policy initiatives. These differences in approach are influenced by aspects of culture and history which cannot easily be separated from the legislative process. Convergence therefore becomes more difficult with culture bound areas of the law, such as labour and employment. EU social policy has aimed to harmonise standards based on a minimum floor of rights7 to a level which is more reflective of what is present in the more socially progressive countries, such as France. However, lack of concrete EU wide definitions have made coordination in social policy difficult. Though similar terms to describe elements of procedure may be used, the ideologies and policies informing the objectives of those procedures create a barrier to mutual understanding and an obstacle to coordinated action. The question remains then as to how it may be possible to find a means of coordinating the law in order to create a more balanced environment for cross border business. In discovering the influences on the aims of socially oriented regulation, it may be possible to identify areas where coordination and perhaps convergence may be realistically attempted and to work around those areas in which the different social aims make such convergence impossible or at least improbable in the near future. In order to attempt an alignment of labour systems in the EU, which of itself is a potentially unrealistic suggestion, at least in the current political climate and particularly following the United Kingdom’s referendum outcome and pending exit from the EU, an understanding of the fundamental values which have influenced a country’s approach to employment law and social policy is vital. Any EU level coordination would require diplomacy and compromise, a full knowledge and understanding of the elements of the systems being the most important tool to guide any such process. Though the current political crisis of 2016 gives little hope toward this end, an understanding of the underlying factors that influence jurisdictional approaches to social policy and employment law may be a useful exercise in the event that the crisis is resolved and harmonisation, or at least a managed convergence, again becomes an aim of EU social policy.8 To this end, an analysis of the historical context of labour regulation and the working classes will reveal much about the fundamental values upon which labour systems and employment regulation are based, and the differences between them. A typically top-down technical analysis would only expose a positivist view of the law,9 isolated from its constituent parts without which it would not exist in its current form. The comparative perspective presented is not only useful for the development of solutions, but also for the discovery of other alternatives.10 This unique methodology could then be relied upon as a means finding a path to greater coordination by attempting to align systemic values in the future, should the EU survive the political turmoil that has engulfed 2016.

The issue related to labour regulation of small and medium-sized enterprises is a very limited but important field of labour law in a broader sense, as the SME sector plays a crucial role in the macro-economy and employment due to the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in virtually all countries. The contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises to employment is the most significant amongst enterprises of all sizes, and the SME sector creates more jobs than large companies. After recognising the important role of small enterprises amid the growth in the SME sector, the sector has formed part of EU employment policy and economic policy for about 20 years. Thereafter, the European Union has provided a significant number of indications that it takes or endeavours to take the needs of small undertakings into account when setting different economic policy and employment policy purposes and drawing up strategies in this respect. Alongside this process, the Hungarian employment policy and economic policy have begun supporting small enterprises and taking their needs into account. The concept of supporting the development of the SME sector in terms of labour legislation emerged before the adoption of the Hungarian Labour Code currently in force, when it was mentioned several times in the preparation of the Labour Code that the majority of employers belong to the SME sector, and the employment needs and capabilities of these employers are different to those of larger firms. In that context, differentiated labour regulation has also been suggested, according to which labour rules that are less burdensome for small employers should be created, i.e. their economic strength, employment needs and capabilities should be taken into account. These ideas were essentially ‘torpedoed’ by Constitutional Court Decision 41/2009 (III. 27.), however, in my opinion, the debate on this matter is still not cut-and-dried, as many counter-arguments on labour regulation of small enterprises have emerged since then; a critical analysis of these arguments is provided in the dissertation. The source of the problem is the fact that if the same rules apply to small enterprises and large, well-capitalised multinational enterprises with thousands of employees, legislation fails to take the employment needs and capabilities of small enterprises into account. Nevertheless, if small enterprises are exempted from certain labour law obligations, employees employed by these enterprises could be worse off than those employed by larger enterprises. However, the latter option may infringe the most basic and fundamental employee rights of the employees of small enterprises and, in particular, the principle of equal treatment, and would thus imply a deterioration of their situation compared to that of other persons in the labour market. Moreover, it is an empirically proven fact that the employees of small enterprises generally have to endure worse working conditions — i.e. they work longer hours for lower wages, while rules guaranteeing health and safety at work are not respected in their workplace — than the employees of large enterprises. Supporting small enterprises by exempting them from labour rules or at least some of those may entail for employees a number of disadvantages to be discussed in depth in the dissertation. If we do so in the light of the fact that one of the key objectives of the European Union is to raise employment in the SME sector, those suggestions should also be taken seriously, as amendments to that effect will affect the situation of millions of employees. Of course, the situation is more diverse, and the ‘challenges’ for the SME sector have many aspects; in this respect, the dissertation endeavours to provide a critical and complete analysis of the issue of labour law. Despite the fact that the dissertation solely aims to examine labour law issues, it also covers and examines, as far as necessary, other, in particular employment policy issues. Exempting small enterprises from the application of labour and labour-related laws or failure to enforce these rules in practice appear to have a little positive impact on economy, while it has a significant negative impact on the employees’ legal position, working conditions, and social security. I am convinced that the correct application of labour law does not hamper economic growth and development, instead innovative regulatory solutions can play an important role in streamlining a satisfactory regulatory environment, in such a way as to secure decent work and, at the same time, help develop small enterprises and promote their formalisation...

This article introduces some key labor, economic, and social policies that historically and currently impact occupational health disparities in the United States. We conducted a broad review of the peer-reviewed and gray literature on the effects of social, economic, and labor policies on occupational health disparities. Many populations such as tipped workers, public employees, immigrant workers, and misclassified workers are not protected by current laws and policies, including worker's compensation or Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement of standards. Local and state initiatives, such as living wage laws and community benefit agreements, as well as multiagency law enforcement contribute to reducing occupational health disparities. There is a need to build coalitions and collaborations to command the resources necessary to identify, and then reduce and eliminate occupational disparities by establishing healthy, safe, and just work for all.

A LONG TRADITION IN economic theory models economic policy decisions solutions to optimization problems solved by rational and well-informed agents: (1) a single policymaker minimizes a loss function subject to some constraints. Another body of literature models policy decisions they were made by well-informed voters in elections of some sort. (2) As everyone knows, each of these approaches is allegorical in some respects, two of which are germane to this paper. First, apart from votes on school budgets and on some bond issues, economic (and other) policy decisions are rarely made by direct democracy. We instead utilize representative democracy, in which elected politicians decide on our behalf. Second, in many cases the agents making the decisions may be neither well informed nor rational homo economicus. Robert Blendon and his coauthors, for example, find large gaps between measured economic performance and the public's perception thereof. (3) Monetary policy decisionmaking may perhaps approximate the loss function model. Decisions there are made by a technocrat or by a committee of technocrats, many of whom think like (or are) economists. (4) But fiscal policy clearly is not made this way. Even one models the president of the United States minimizing a loss function, the president's recommendation is just the starting point of a long process of political horse trading. There may be 536 relevant loss functions rather than just one--and they will not all be the same. Similarly, a complex brew of politicians makes the major decisions in virtually all other areas of economic policy: labor laws, tax laws, environmental policy, and social insurance programs, to name just a few. (5) Of course, the fact that the voting and loss function models are allegorical does not necessarily make them misleading, when interpreted as if hypotheses. But to make a judgment on the applicability of these models of decisionmaking, it seems worth digging down deeper into the actual processes that guide policymaking. This paper takes a step in that direction. Specifically, we take it axiomatic that, first, the political mechanism makes almost all important economic policy decisions, and second, the decisions of elected politicians are heavily influenced by public opinion. These are hardly dazzling insights. The first statement is simply a fact; it is also central to both standard approaches to the economic theory of policymaking: loss functions and voting. The second is rarely discussed by economists in their scholarly work. But its importance is apparent from the tremendous resources that politicians devote to assessing public opinion, and there is plenty of supportive evidence in political science. (6) Legitimate doubts have been raised about whether the types of questions commonly asked in public opinion polls elicit individuals' true preferences. (7) That is not our question here, because understanding the determinants of public opinion expressed in standard polls remains important long these polls influence politicians' policy decisions. This point remains valid irrespective of whether people understand the issues well or are confused about them, whether they are self-interested or public spirited, and whether they are well informed or poorly informed. If we accept these points, a host of interesting questions arise, two of which are the foci of this paper. First, to what extent is mass public opinion shaped by political ideology, self-interest, and--don't laugh--economic knowledge? Second, to the extent that knowledge is relevant to opinions on economic issues, how do people inform themselves? This paper offers many detailed answers to these and related questions, and so it may be useful to begin with a broad characterization that may help the reader see the forest amid all the trees to follow. Subject to many caveats, our main finding is that ideology is the most consistently important determinant of public opinion on a number of major economic policy issues, and objective measures of material self-interest are the least important. …

The aim of this chapter is to interrogate what, if anything, is gained by reformulating labour law as a field of reflexive law and governance. The tradition of Oxford labour law scholarship stretching back to Kahn-Freund has not of course typically deployed the terminology of ‘reflexive law’, though it has been preoccupied—as reflexive law scholarship is—with labour law’s regulatory techniques. At its simplest, the reflexive turn in labour law is an attempt to speak to concerns about the effectiveness of the traditional regulatory techniques of labour legislation and administrative regulation in the context of changes in the institutional landscape, and changes to regulatory objectives in the areas of industrial relations and social policy. What has changed since the heyday of, respectively, collective laissez-faire and statutory intervention, as the dominant techniques of labour market regulation, and how convincing is ‘reflexive law’ in its attempt to explain or rationalise the new forms of governance or law-making within the UK labour market, and more generally with reference to the social and employment policy of the European Union (EU)? This requires a three-fold investigation: first is reflexive law descriptively an appropriate means by which to understand the range of regulatory techniques being adopted across the field of employment and industrial relations: how accurate a description of regulatory change are theories of reflexive law, or related discourses of ‘responsive’, ‘new’ or ‘experimentalist’ governance? Second, is it right, normatively, to adopt or advocate a reflexive approach to regulation, to the extent that such an approach may well eschew a substantive content for labour law? Can a reflexive approach be inherently ‘neutral’ as to (regulatory or labour market) outcomes? What of those criticisms of reflexive regulation which contend that the rise of reflexive (labour) law runs in parallel to and indeed reinforces the neoliberal turn in economic policy making? Third, is there empirical evidence to show that a reflexive approach to regulation works in practice? Is it true to claim—as theorists of reflexive law, responsive regulation or new governance do—that regulatory interventions in the labour market are more likely to be successful in achieving their objectives if they avoid direct prescription of substantive social or distributive outcomes, and instead engage in what one might call ‘second-order’ regulation by creating frameworks within which social actors such as employers can negotiate?

This paper reviews the foundations of New Labour's economic policies and the performance of the economy since 1997. It argues that New Labour's policies have evolved from Thatcherism and that it has largely embraced the tenets of neo-liberalism. New Labour has rejected most aspects of Keynesianism and its policies have eschewed the use of active demand management policies. But it has been the high levels of demand—in particular consumption expenditure—that have driven economic growth in the UK and which have ensured that (as yet) New Labour has not faced the problems of dealing with a major economic downturn.

This article forms part of a tribute to Professor Harry Arthurs on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Over the past two decades, Professor Arthurs has argued that the state’s failure to regulate to improve working conditions may stem in part from enhanced capital mobility, but also arises from what he calls a “globalization of the mind” - perceptions of globalization’s constraints on public policy that may operate somewhat independently of underlying economic realities. In Fairness at Work, a 2006 report to the Canadian federal government, Professor Arthurs argued that despite the effects of globalization and the new economy, governments had not lost their ability to reform labour and employment laws that addressed the needs of Canadian workers. However, he acknowledged following the Report that his recommendations had “sunk like a stone.” This article considers why this happened. It contends that states are more constrained by a “globalization of the mind” than by hard economic facts. On the other hand, collective bargaining does often find itself at the hard edges of economic realities. As a result, insofar as it remains a potentially progressive actor, it is the state that increasingly finds itself without labour law and without labour, rather than the other way around. The article goes on to suggest that progressives turn their attention to how democratic politics might once again envision, mobilize around and deliberate upon better alternatives for reducing inequality. But it acknowledges Professor Arthurs’ concerns that our current democratic politics may not be capable of grasping the need for and acting upon new social and economic policies that could reduce inequality.

Using data from a sample of 1,099 workers, this paper investigates the determinants of employment and wages for workers in the United Arab Emirates. The paper further examines the wage distribution and the decomposition of the wage gap between the public and the private sectors. Results of the study are consistent with the dual labour market theory and indicate that the labour market in the United Arab Emirates is segmented based on sectors (public versus private) and types of workers (nationals versus non‐nationals). The study concludes with a discussion of the implication of these findings for the effectiveness of labour and economic policy.

Labour regulation is a complex and ever changing area of the law fed by social and economic policy, politics, external and internal pressures, and cultural influences. In isolation, labour regulation is particular to the country in which it is found. However, in a world growing smaller due to the evolution of an international marketplace through globalisation, the differences in labour regulation between jurisdictions can become an issue in cross border business transactions and may even affect a multi-national company’s choice of investment. The flexibility or inflexibility of labour regulation will affect the attractiveness of a jurisdiction, as evidenced by the outsourcing of labour intensive sectors of many corporations to developing countries which lack the expense of protective labour regulation and minimum wage requirements. In order to even attempt an alignment of labour systems in the EU, which of itself is a potentially unrealistic suggestion, at least in the current political climate, an understanding of the fundamental values which have influenced a country’s approach labour law is vital. Any EU level coordination would require diplomacy and compromise, a full knowledge and understanding of the elements of the systems being the most important tool to guide any such process. To this end, an analysis of the historical context of labour regulation and the working classes will reveal much about the fundamental values upon which labour systems are based and any important differences existing between these values. A typically top down technical analysis would only expose a positivist view of the law, isolated from its constituent parts without which it would not exist in its current form. This unique methodology could then be relied upon as a means finding a path to greater coordination by attempting to align systemic values. This paper does not set out to solve the coordination issues or to press for harmonisation. It aims to explore the origin of the differences between the legal systems to see if there is some way that social, political and historical obstacles can be overcome in order to draw the labour law systems of member states into closer alignment. Using the historic-comparative methodology described above, the proletarianisation of labour which has occurred through industrialisation and following the French Revolution within the UK and France in particular will be examined. The emergence of labour regulation will then be discussed within its socio-cultural, economic and historical context. It is envisaged that an EU with more closely aligned legal systems would improve the effectiveness of cross border commercial enterprises and decrease what opportunities for social dumping may remain.

This article argues that the long-dormant “end of ideology” debate may have contemporary relevance in Australia as far as the economic policies and stance on poverty alleviation of the Hawke Labor Government and Liberal Opposition are concerned. The paper describes the bipartisanship that has emerged in the key area of economic policy and the lack of commitment to poverty alleviation on the part of either major political party. The economic and income support policies of the Liberals represent a further extension of “Fraserism.” For Labor, both their economic and social policies represent a fundamental departure. The net result is a consensus over the merits of neo-conservative economics, a less-caring society, and a loss of sovereignity by the Australian electorate.

The labor legislation of Ukraine is the oldest among all branches of law, and, therefore, requires immediate improvement. The alignment of domestic labor legislation with European standards is one of the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. In this regard, there is a chance for successful reform of this sector in domestic labor practice, which will create a favorable working environment and will be able to protect employees’ rights and interests. Enhancing the legal framework in the field of labor legislation will strengthen the desire of European partners to attract investment in various economic sectors, thereby contributing to the growth of new jobs and economic development. Taking this into account, studying the issue of improving labor legislation in accordance with European principles is extremely relevant and important for our country since this process will improve citizens’ lives and make them part of a large European family. The purpose of the academic paper is to reveal the features of improving the labor legislation in accordance with the European integration principles. When studying the issue of improving labor legislation in accordance with European integration principles, it should be noted that this process will contribute to strengthening the legal protection of employees in the context of fair wages, social guarantees, and safety in the workplace. This process will help ensure fair labor conditions, social stability and reduce social-economic problems in society. Improvement of labor legislation in accordance with European integration principles is a key aspect of the strategy of modern Ukraine. Deepening European integration cooperation and the desire to become integrated with the EU require reforms in the field of labor legislation, which is currently far from European standards. Outdated and inefficient regulations should be canceled. They should be replaced by effective and expedient legal norms in the field of labor law that would ensure the protection of all subjects of labor relations, and promote the development of economic and social policy in the state.

India is the most populous democracy in the world. In the early years after attaining independence, as a new democracy, Indian development strategy was driven by what Francine Frankel (2005) calls the “the Gandhian-socialist consensus” that was predominantly value oriented. Frankel enumerates the areas of consensus - first, there was the general agreement that economic policy should aim for the progressive removal of inequalities in Indian society, and ultimately result in the complete disappearance of class distinctions. Second, the Gandhians and the socialists concurred on the need to limit sharply the existing scope of the acquisitive instinct in Indian economic life, and to create a new set of cooperative motives. The Nehruvian socialist state envisioned a strong industrial base under state ownership (Frankel, 2005) and wage labour was seen within the ethical context of productive employment and as a defining frame for good citizenship. This and the Constitutional guarantee of Fundamental Rights helped to give legitimacy to wage labour’s expectation of citizenship rights through provision of jobs, better working conditions, better social services and healthcare. By the 1990s, after economic liberalization, the basic premises of this vision were discarded even in populist political rhetoric, while the state embraced neo-liberal ideology and economic policies. The changed economic agenda impacted severely on the working classes. Primarily because of the nature of growth and specifically because of the pressure from the Indian industrial houses, the policies encouraged relaxation of the already weakly implemented labour laws. This paper examined the role media played in debating these issues. As media are event oriented and not process oriented in their coverage, coverage of labour issues is unlikely on an ordinary news day. This paper, therefore, examined the news and opinion pieces that have appeared in mainstream media when the CEO of a multinational auto component manufacturer, Graziano Transmissioni, located in Noida, India, died following an altercation with the dismissed workers of the factory. The paper began by giving a background to the industrial dispute that provoked the event, followed by the perspectives on the role of media in a democracy. Prof Noam Chomsky and Prof Amartya Sen are two of the great contemporary philosophers who have written extensively on media’s role in society, though from different analytical perspectives. The coverage of the event itself in the media was presented and the paper discussed the coverage from the two theoretical perspectives on media expounded by professors Sen and Chomsky. From the discussion of the news coverage, it is clear that in ‘democratic’ societies, media may be free, but not necessarily fair. In a deeply unequal society, the spaces in media for articulating the demands for equal citizenship rights are severely constricted. In the name of free debate, media seem to act as a tool for ‘kite flying’ to sense the public mood on behalf of the state-capital nexus and ‘spin’ the debates to legitimize disenfranchising policies. The debate itself can be seen as an important element of a free society, but when there is an a priori policy consensus among the ruling elite and capital, justice can be subverted institutionally by not implementing protective legislation (as is the case with labour laws). Prof Sen’s view of the role of media in a democracy is ideally desirable. But in practice, it is evident that Prof Chomsky’s critique of media’s role is closer to reality. A study (Puette, 1992) on media portrayal of labour issues two decades ago found that the media systematically, overtly and covertly, hide/highlight issues to paint a negative image of organised labour. The democratic right to free speech has not been used by the media to protect the interests of the poor whether in India or elsewhere, when the issues are fundamentally economic or political in nature. Free and unfettered media may be necessary for a democracy, but they do not seem sufficient to ensure equal rights to all.

The role and place of the ethical approach in Russia’s social and economic policy are shown; ethical aspects of economic policy are considered; basic ethical principles which should be taken into account in the process of development of social and economic policy are offered. Ethical requirements to such basic directions of state economic policy as fiscal and price policy, labor policy, social policy, institutional policy, etc. are described.

The conference had been planned with a relatively broad range of subjects (actually, similar to earlier years). It had been recommended to focus on the following areas of economic policy: 1) Entrepreneurship policy; 2) Corporate strategy; 3) Fiscal and monetary policy; 4) Environmental policy; 5) Regional and local government policy; 6) Sectoral economic policy (for different sectors of national economy); 7) Social policy; 8) Labour policy and income policy. Just like at earlier conferences, also some other areas of economic policy (this time e.g. the economic crisis) had been planned.