Monday, November 17, 2008
[IWS] IILS: LABOUR, GLOBALIZATION & INEQUALITY: ARE TRADE UNIONS STILL REDISTRIBUTIVE?
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) at the ILO
Labour, globalization and inequality: Are Trade Unions still redistributive?
by Lucio Baccaro.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/dp19208.pdf
[full-text, 81 pages]
[excerpt]
The Report shows that, in the majority of countries, the incomes of
richer households have increased relative to those of their middle- and
low-income counterparts.
This can be good for the economy. Indeed, it is crucial to reward work effort,
talent and innovation * key engines of economic growth and wealth creation.
However, there are instances where income inequality reaches excessive levels,
in that it erodes social stability. Growing perceptions that income
inequalities are too high may weaken political support for pro-growth policies.
Too much income inequality can also be conducive to unstable economic growth.
The Report examines a number of factors which may be conducive to excessive
income inequality, such as financial globalization and steep increases in
executive pay, disconnected from firm performance. The role of domestic factors
is also analysed, including i) emerging patterns of employer-employee
bargaining; ii) the trend increase in non-standard forms of employment; and iii)
the ability of the tax and transfer systems to redistribute the gains from
economic growth.
This paper presents a novel quantitative assessment of the effects of
globalization and domestic labour policies on income inequality. Importantly, it
covers a wide range of countries *and not just advanced economies, as is often
the case. The result is a rich picture of the various factors behind the trend
increase in income inequality registered over the past two decades.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) at the ILO
Labour, globalization and inequality: Are Trade Unions still redistributive?
by Lucio Baccaro.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/dp19208.pdf
[full-text, 81 pages]
[excerpt]
The Report shows that, in the majority of countries, the incomes of
richer households have increased relative to those of their middle- and
low-income counterparts.
This can be good for the economy. Indeed, it is crucial to reward work effort,
talent and innovation * key engines of economic growth and wealth creation.
However, there are instances where income inequality reaches excessive levels,
in that it erodes social stability. Growing perceptions that income
inequalities are too high may weaken political support for pro-growth policies.
Too much income inequality can also be conducive to unstable economic growth.
The Report examines a number of factors which may be conducive to excessive
income inequality, such as financial globalization and steep increases in
executive pay, disconnected from firm performance. The role of domestic factors
is also analysed, including i) emerging patterns of employer-employee
bargaining; ii) the trend increase in non-standard forms of employment; and iii)
the ability of the tax and transfer systems to redistribute the gains from
economic growth.
This paper presents a novel quantitative assessment of the effects of
globalization and domestic labour policies on income inequality. Importantly, it
covers a wide range of countries *and not just advanced economies, as is often
the case. The result is a rich picture of the various factors behind the trend
increase in income inequality registered over the past two decades.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 6:23 AM
