International Employment Relations
Resources
Version 1: January 15, 1998. Note: Hard
print versions of this text may appear disjointed.
Richard Hannah, Associate Professor of
Economics, MTSU
E-mail: RLHANNAH@FRANK.MTSU.EDU
Homepage: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/homepage.html
Shortcut (jump) to Contents
International
Economics Context
Qualitative
Dimensions of Employment Relations
Quantitative
Dimensions of Employment Relations
Introduction
Middle Tennessee State University
supported the development of this resource with a Project International II
Faculty Fellowship in International Business in the Fall of 1997. This
prototype is intended for academics and practitioners. Techni cally, the
document has been developed as a reference that can be easily printed or
accessed electronically. Thus, "portability" as well as content is
reflected in the text structure. Therefore, one objective is to provide a focal
online reference that in troduces the international dimension of employment
relations to the uninitiated instructor, student, or practitioner. This effort
is part of a more comprehensive infrastructure of online resources in the field
of employment relations already developed by the author and linked to a
homepage at: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/homepage.html.
The Internet now facilitates mass
access to international ideas and data that were once the exclusive domain of
specialists. But any businessperson or academic still must filter the
ever-increasing volume of information, determine if it is credible, an d then
judge its usefulness. The effort herein reflects these criteria and hopefully
saves the user time and reduces the variability of information quality
resulting from online searches.
The specific topic of comparative
employment relations has gained stature in the economic context of
international trade and extension of multi-national corporations. The critical
subtexts are the dimensions of labor cost, productivity, and geographica lly
specific industrial relations institutions (e.g., labor laws, unions or works
councils, and cultural values). An understanding of these processes is
important from a practical business perspective for two reasons, the decisions
of profitable ventures and decisions of informed human resource policy making.
There is no pretense that all these topics are covered in this document. The
net has been scanned for credible and reliable sites; commentary is offered
where user guidance is warranted, and details have been imported as time and
priorities have permitted. The basic criterion for inclusion of electronic
resources has been whether substance was freely offered. This generally
eliminates commercial sites and professional organizations that charge a fee or
protect their sites from universal access. Finally, hard print resources are
referenced, or converted to an electronic summary, where they have direct
bearing on the subject matter. All this adds up to the best that any online or
traditional source can offer, a starting point for the intellectually curious
or the pragmatically driven.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
CONTEXT
Highly
Regarded Popular Sources
These
sources are mentioned for three reasons. First, they are free. Second, although
only abbreviated articles may be online, the volume still provides sufficient
currency and background with respect to international economic events, a
backdrop es sential to develop a reasoning that links broader trends to the
specifics of employment relations. Third, each of the sources does include
informative articles focused on employment relations. While not sufficient for
academic research papers, these onlin e sources are certainly good supplements,
and perhaps more importantly, they are the foundation for intelligent lay
discourse.
The
Economist is the best all-round resource for developing global economic
literacy. Excellent descriptive data, feature articles, and shorter pieces
follow a pattern of comprehensive international coverage. Almost every issue
has an article on a dimension of employment relations in specific countries. If
I were limited to recommending a single source, this would be it. Http://www.economist.com
Business Week primarily sticks to
domestic themes, but often offers well studied perspectives on the
multi-national character of U.S. firms. Http://www.businessweek.com
Fortune focuses on the financial
dimension of economic behavior, but the international dimension of capital is certainly
a necessary complement to understanding many of the labor and employment
dimension of economic activity. Http://www.fortune.com
Institute for International Economics,
a non-profit research organization, offers a few online working papers,
abstracts of studies and books, and news releases. Several of these are
directly related to the issues of trade, jobs, and wages . Http://www.iie.com
U.S. Government and International Organizations
Providing Comprehensive International Economic Information
A comprehensive list of links to
international statistical agencies and individual country statistical agencies
is maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The quality and quantity
of data maintained online by different countries varies c onsiderably, and many
documents are not in English. Still, this is a very good "one stop"
site for a browse of what is available. Http://stats.bls.gov/oreother.htm
U.S. foreign trade data is collected by
the Census Bureau. This information is very useful for a summary from the U.S.
perspective with respect to top trading partners, top surpluses and deficits,
and trade highlights. Http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/index.html
Library of Congress Guide to the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) now the World Trade Organization
(WTO) includes the full text of the document and helpful categorizations.
Easily searchable for relevant agreements such as the "Agreement on Labor
Cooperation." The context of trade liberalization is crucial to reason the
causal relationships relevant to global shifts in employment and concerns for
worker rights. Http://lcweb2.loc.gov/glin/x-wto-lk.html
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can also be browsed in this
context. Http://lcweb2.loc.gov/glin/x-n
afta.html
OECD (Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development) produces extensive economic information about
member countries (primarily highly industrialized, western type economies).
While only a sampling of this information is online (som e files downloadable),
there are informative short descriptions of economy-wide studies, macroeconomic
statistics (such as per capita GDP, standardized unemployment rates, purchasing
power parity), and specific labor related studies (such as "Trends in Pu
blic Sector Pay"). Http://www.oecd.org
United Nations International Trade
Center data focus on statistics by product group and by region or county. Http://www.unicc.org/itc/infobase/infobase.htm
World Bank abstracts of economic
reports by country are also online. Http://www.worldbank.org
European Commission online resources are
fairly comprehensive, but the user should have a knowledge of the evolution
toward the European Union and related issues in order to take advantage of this
resource. Http://europa.eu.int
Commonwealth Online is a source limited
to the British Commonwealth. Besides the larger counties like Australia or
Canada, there is some broadly descriptive information on the labor force and
demographics for many lesser-known members. Http://www.tcol.co.uk/members2.htm
International Chamber of Commerce web
resources are only useful in the context of this employment relations in the
sense that some current economic issues may be relevant. Http://www.iccw bo.org
QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Evolution
of Employment Relations and Related Resources on the Net
Networking.
Electronic networking on the Internet is now about 10 years old and initially
was limited to very few academics. The full flowering of large numbers of
academics and practitioners began about five years ago as the world wide web
began t o draw more interest from professionals. The impact of private
electronic communications on the study and practice of employment relations
from an international perspective is impossible to measure. However, a
seemingly obvious assertion is that the Internet has spread ideas, information,
and expertise through this global communications network. A few measures of the
characteristics of subscribers have been reported (Hannah, 1997a, b, and c).
There have been very few Internet discussion lists exclus ively devoted to
international aspects of employment relations. However, international inquiries
and responses are frequent on many lists based in North America. A "list
of employment relations lists" can be found at: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/erlists.html.
The Internet has facilitated an electronic continuance of special interest
groups based on traditional alignments (e.g., unions, training, benefits, an d
human resource managers), and also provided a medium of eclectic blends of
academics and practitioners within electronic forums.
Evolution of Online Documents and Data.
The emergence of the web yielded a convenient technical means of electronic
publishing, but the U.S. government's National Information Infrastructure
commitment provided a large and continuously growin g volume of credible online
material. The field of employment relations has benefited immensely from the
electronic publication of government documents, and as we shall see below, the
niche of foreign labor statistics has not been neglected. Suffice it to say
that the U.S. government is now pivotal in the flowering of online sources used
for academic and practical endeavors in either the domestic or foreign
dimension of employment relations. Academics have to a degree followed suit
with electronic publica tions and the public service of developing web pages
oriented toward employment relations. Many commercial enterprises and
professional organizations also provide useful information, but the bulk of
these are membership fee or service charge oriented. An example of a page summarizing
this array of online information can be found at: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/IR_HR.HTML.
The Internet as a Component of
International Human Resource Management Strategy. A survey of this topic would
require an entirely separate document. However cursory, that information
technologies either require, or make easier, a more considered international
dimension to HRM is worthy of mention. The obvious categories of consideration
are electronically distributed work, news communications, employment benefits
management, human resource information systems, workplace privacy (e.g., e-mail
use or abuse), and the publication of collective bargaining agreements are
other multi-lateral uses of this medium. Web technology makes the development
of electronic documents just as easily published to global users as local
employees. The routing of this evolution currently has three
alternatives--Internet, intranet, or extranet environments. From an
international perspective, as electronic employment communications continue a
proliferation, new considerations likely to become more commonplace are speech
and cultural sensitivities, government censuring in non-democratic societies,
and internal equity issues relevant to multi-national corporations.
Examples of Documents Reflecting
Institutional Forces
Global Trade and Employment Relations.
In the context of the international economics perspective several of the
sources have already been mentioned. Many of these are searchable for more
specific information that reflect the employment relations en vironments in
different countries. The above-referenced GATT (WTO) and NAFTA sources are good
examples. A few others are important either because they clearly define the
differences (for the U.S. student) in the shaping of institutions that govern
the evo lution of employment relations, or that provide interesting insights
through online details in particular niches.
Social Charter of the European Union.
The European Community is clearly pursuing a different agenda of employment
relations than the U.S. There is a particularly strong influence of unions and
works councils and the securing of the collective co operation of workers was
an essential component in the fabric of economic and social cohesion and consolidation
of the Union. The Social Charter provides the general statements of 31
specifically defined rights workers and citizens. Examples include the r ight
to work, just conditions of work, fair remuneration, collectively bargain,
consultation and information, vocational training, and social security. The
full text can be found at the Council of Europe site: http://www.coe.fr/eng/legaltxt/163e.htm
European Court of Justice. This source
is of interest because decisions reflect the values emerging in the broad
European context. Online searches can turn up insights on many topics not
usually in the mainstream of research or practitioner inqu iry, for example,
court rulings on pension issues. Http://www.curia.eu.int
International Labour Organization. Like
the OECD, the ILO produces extensive publications but most sources are not
online as full text. However, this site is worthy of browsing for information
such as multinational enterprise and la bor standards, including historical
references. Http://www.ilo.org
General References and Sources Specific
to Different Nations
The links given in this section have
been monitored for some time, and they have exhibited longevity in maintenance
and are credible in content. They vary considerably in volume and substance of
content, but are representative of most of these kind s of sites. They are
offered without elaboration, but are recommended for general browsing as the
topic or geographic orientation appeals to the reader.
General References
Industrial Relations and Trade Unions. Http://www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/TOPICS/Indrel.html
LaborNet: Http://www.igc.org/igc/labornet/index.html
Comparative Social Security Systems. Http://www.ilo.org/public/english/110secso/css/cssindex.htm
International Social Security
Administration. Http://www.aiss.org
International Child Labor Study. Http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/e_archive/ChildLabor/
Australia
Australian Human Resources Institute. Http://www.ahri.com.au
National Institute for Labor Studies:
Flinders University. Http://www.ssn.flinders.edu.au/nils/
Canada
HRD in Canada: Federal and Provincial
Government Links. Http://labour.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/
Germany
Database of Unions & IR in Germany.
Http://www.sowifo.fu-berlin.de/dir/dir.html
India
Ananth's Indian HRD and Labour Law
Resource. Http://www.netfx.net/ananth
Japan
Teiichi Sekiguchi's Page at Chuo
University. Http://comp-irh.tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp/English.html
Japan Institute of Labor. Http://www.mol.go.jp/jil/index-e.htm
New Zealand
Center for Trade and Labor Union
Studies: University of Waikato.
Http://www2.waikato.ac.nz/cltus/index.html
South Africa
South Africa National Economic
Development and Labour Council. Http://www.nedlac.org.za
South African Collective Bargaining. Http://www.workplace.co.za
QUANTITATIVE DIMENSIONS OF
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
U.S.
Government. The federal government compiles and makes available on the Internet
very extensive labor market and employment relations data. Most of this is
domestic, but the U.S. is also a prodigious generator of international data.
These data are formatted online in numerous tables such as historical
comparisons of compensation costs, manufacturing productivity, unit labor
costs, and exchange rates. Text explanations and detailed documentation are
also provided. One excellent site is located a t the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Foreign Labor Statistics site. Http://stats.bls.gov/flshome.htm
Table 1 below is a composite example
from two tables (2&3) from the above site. This composite is offered to
illustrate the depth and breadth of the resource.
Table 1
Example of Data from U.S. B.L.S.
Foreign Labor Statistics
Hourly Compensation Costs in U.S.
Dollars (current by year)
From BLS Foreign Labor Statistics,
Table 2: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ichcc.t02.htm,
and
Table 3: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ichcc.t03.htm
|
Country or Area |
1975 |
1996 |
Annual
% Change* |
Real
Hourly Compensation Index Change from 1975-96 For Select Countries (1992=100) |
|
United States |
6.36 |
17.74 |
5.0 |
93.0--100.1 |
|
Canada |
5.96 |
16.66 |
5.0 |
87.5--102.5 |
|
Mexico |
1.47 |
1.50 |
0.1 |
|
|
Australia |
5.62 |
16.55 |
5.3 |
|
|
Hong Kong |
0.76 |
5.14 |
9.5 |
|
|
Israel |
2.25 |
10.98 |
7.8 |
|
|
Japan |
3.00 |
21.04 |
9.7 |
72.5--109.4 |
|
Korea |
0.32 |
8.23 |
16.7 |
|
|
New Zealand |
3.21 |
11.03 |
6.1 |
|
|
Singapore |
0.84 |
8.32 |
11.5 |
|
|
Sri Lanka |
0.28 |
--- |
2.7 |
|
|
Taiwan |
0.40 |
5.86 |
13.6 |
|
|
Austria |
4.51 |
24.95 |
8.5 |
|
|
Belgium |
6.41 |
26.07 |
6.9 |
|
|
Denmark |
6.28 |
24.38 |
6.7 |
|
|
Finland |
4.61 |
24.45 |
8.3 |
|
|
France |
4.52 |
19.34 |
7.2 |
82.4--102.2 |
|
Germany (West) |
6.35 |
31.87 |
8.0 |
61.3--112.3 |
|
Greece |
1.69 |
--- |
8.7 |
71.8--98.9 |
|
Ireland |
3.03 |
14.12 |
7.6 |
|
|
Italy |
4.67 |
18.08 |
6.7 |
|
|
Luxembourg |
6.35 |
--- |
6.7 |
|
|
Netherlands |
6.58 |
23.33 |
6.2 |
|
|
Norway |
6.77 |
24.95 |
6.4 |
78.6--105.9 |
|
Portugal |
1.58 |
--- |
6.3 |
|
|
Spain |
2.53 |
13.29 |
8.2 |
|
|
Sweden |
7.18 |
24.56 |
6.0 |
83.5--103.5 |
|
Switzerland |
6.09 |
28.34 |
7.6 |
|
|
United Kingdom |
3.37 |
14.19 |
7.1 |
63.4--104.3 |
* If there were no observations for
1996, the percent change is computed on 1995.
One of the most commonly cited
government texts is the Economic Report of the President, which contains international
data on civilian unemployment rates and hourly compensation rates for selected
countries. Tables 2 and 3 below extract labor re lated information from this
source. Note that there are a number of qualifiers on these data and the reader
should consult the original source for more definitive description. This and
other macro data are located at: http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/erp.html
Table 2
Example of Data from the Economic
Report of the President
Civilian Unemployment Rates
Approximating U.S. Concepts
Hard Print: Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1997.
Online: Http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/erp.html
(complete text of 424
pages of text and tables)
|
Year |
U.S. |
Canada |
Japan |
France |
Germany(1) |
Italy |
U.K. |
|
1970 |
4.9 |
5.7 |
1.2 |
2.5 |
0.5 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
|
1971 |
5.9 |
6.2 |
1.3 |
2.8 |
0.6 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
|
1972 |
5.6 |
6.2 |
1.4 |
2.9 |
0.7 |
3.8 |
4.2 |
|
1973 |
4.9 |
5.5 |
1.3 |
2.8 |
0.7 |
3.7 |
3.2 |
|
1974 |
5.6 |
5.3 |
1.4 |
2.9 |
1.6 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
|
1975 |
8.5 |
6.9 |
1.9 |
4.2 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
4.6 |
|
1976 |
7.7 |
7.2 |
2.0 |
4.6 |
3.4 |
3.9 |
5.9 |
|
1977 |
7.1 |
8.1 |
2.0 |
5.2 |
3.4 |
4.1 |
6.4 |
|
1978 |
6.1 |
8.4 |
2.3 |
5.4 |
3.3 |
4.1 |
6.3 |
|
1979 |
5.8 |
7.5 |
2.1 |
6.1 |
2.9 |
4.4 |
5.4 |
|
1980 |
7.1 |
7.5 |
2.0 |
6.5 |
2.8 |
4.4 |
7.0 |
|
1981 |
7.6 |
7.6 |
2.2 |
7.6 |
4.0 |
4.9 |
10.5 |
|
1982 |
9.7 |
11.0 |
2.4 |
8.3 |
5.6 |
5.4 |
11.3 |
|
1983 |
9.6 |
11.9 |
2.7 |
8.6 |
6.9 |
5.9 |
11.8 |
|
1984 |
7.5 |
11.3 |
2.8 |
10.0 |
7.1 |
5.9 |
11.8 |
|
1985 |
7.2 |
10.5 |
2.6 |
10.5 |
7.2 |
6.0 |
11.2 |
|
1986 |
7.0 |
9.6 |
2.8 |
10.6 |
6.6 |
7.5 |
11.2 |
|
1987 |
6.2 |
8.9 |
2.9 |
10.8 |
6.3 |
7.9 |
10.3 |
|
1988 |
5.5 |
7.8 |
2.5 |
10.3 |
6.3 |
7.9 |
8.6 |
|
1989 |
5.3 |
7.5 |
2.3 |
9.6 |
5.7 |
7.8 |
7.3 |
|
1990 |
5.6 |
8.1 |
2.1 |
9.1 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
|
1991 |
6.8 |
10.4 |
2.1 |
9.6 |
4.3 |
6.9 |
8.9 |
|
1992 |
7.5 |
11.3 |
2.2 |
10.4 |
4.6 |
7.3 |
10.1 |
|
1993 |
6.9 |
11.2 |
2.5 |
11.8 |
5.7 |
10.2 |
10.5 |
|
1994 |
6.1 |
10.4 |
2.9 |
12.3 |
6.5 |
11.3 |
9.6 |
|
1995 |
5.6 |
9.5 |
3.3 |
11.7 |
6.5 |
12.0 |
8.8 |
|
1996 |
5.4 |
9.7 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
(1)West Germany only.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table B-107.
Table 3
Example of Data from the Economic
Report of the President
Manufacturing Hourly Compensation in
U.S. Dollars (1992=100)
Hard Print: Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1997.
Online: Http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/erp.html
(complete text of 424
pages of text and tables)
|
Year |
U.S. |
Canada |
Japan |
France |
Germany(1) |
Italy |
U.K. |
|
1970 |
23.8 |
21.2 |
5.8 |
10.1 |
8.9 |
9.1 |
8.8 |
|
1971 |
25.3 |
23.6 |
6.9 |
11.3 |
10.4 |
10.6 |
10.3 |
|
1972 |
26.6 |
25.8 |
9.2 |
13.7 |
12.6 |
12.6 |
12.2 |
|
1973 |
28.6 |
27.7 |
12.5 |
17.8 |
17.1 |
14.9 |
13.6 |
|
1974 |
31.8 |
32.6 |
15.3 |
19.4 |
20.0 |
17.4 |
15.7 |
|
1975 |
35.7 |
35.8 |
17.5 |
26.7 |
23.1 |
21.9 |
19.8 |
|
1976 |
38.6 |
42.3 |
18.8 |
27.5 |
24.3 |
21.4 |
18.6 |
|
1977 |
42.0 |
43.5 |
23.0 |
30.3 |
28.8 |
23.8 |
20.3 |
|
1978 |
45.4 |
43.6 |
31.5 |
37.3 |
35.9 |
28.5 |
26.1 |
|
1979 |
49.8 |
46.8 |
32.0 |
44.7 |
42.2 |
35.3 |
34.3 |
|
1980 |
55.8 |
51.8 |
32.9 |
51.9 |
46.2 |
40.3 |
45.3 |
|
1981 |
61.3 |
58.2 |
36.1 |
46.6 |
39.5 |
36.6 |
45.8 |
|
1982 |
67.2 |
62.5 |
33.5 |
45.8 |
38.7 |
36.2 |
43.5 |
|
1983 |
69.0 |
66.4 |
36.1 |
43.6 |
38.7 |
37.8 |
40.5 |
|
1984 |
71.4 |
66.1 |
37.2 |
41.3 |
36.3 |
37.5 |
38.6 |
|
1985 |
75.3 |
66.0 |
38.5 |
43.5 |
37.2 |
38.8 |
41.0 |
|
1986 |
78.6 |
67.4 |
57.3 |
58.8 |
52.5 |
51.7 |
50.3 |
|
1987 |
80.8 |
72.7 |
68.3 |
70.2 |
66.3 |
62.8 |
62.5 |
|
1988 |
84.0 |
81.8 |
78.4 |
73.5 |
70.5 |
65.0 |
72.3 |
|
1989 |
86.7 |
88.2 |
77.3 |
72.4 |
69.0 |
67.8 |
69.9 |
|
1990 |
90.9 |
94.5 |
79.3 |
89.3 |
86.0 |
86.3 |
84.5 |
|
1991 |
95.7 |
102.4 |
90.3 |
90.3 |
89.3 |
92.5 |
93.5 |
|
1992 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
|
1993 |
102.4 |
93.7 |
119.3 |
96.8 |
100.1 |
83.9 |
89.5 |
|
1994 |
105.1 |
90.6 |
132.6 |
101.4 |
106.4 |
81.4 |
93.1 |
|
1995 |
109.0 |
91.3 |
148.8 |
114.6 |
126.6 |
83.0 |
99.1 |
|
1996 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
(1)West Germany only.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table B-107.
OTHER REFERENCES
Hannah, Richard L. 1997a. The Emerging
Significance of Internet Patterns of Association. Labor Studies Journal. Spring
1997, Vol. 22(1): 37-49.
______. 1997b. HR Has a Committee of
10,000 on the Internet. Employment Relations Today. Spring 1997, Vol. 24(1):
11-20.
______. 1997c. An Academic Perspective
on the Evolving Interdependence of Internet and Employment Relations. In John
Bacon-Shone and Fred Castro (Eds.), Publishing on the Line: Proceedings of the
Third Hong Kong Web Symposium. May 7-10, 1997: 10 6-120. HREF: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/HongKong.html.