Regulating the world of work: Policies, institutions, and outcomes

Dr Jan Drahokoupil (jan.drahokoupil@fsv.cuni.cz)

Workload: 8 ECTS credits (240 hours), Master level

Classes: the Zoom platform (Meeting ID: 917 7459 0473, Passcode: 607055), Thursdays, 9.30-10.50, starting on 25 February 2021

Description

The aim of this course is to understand the institutions and policies that regulate the world of work, the reasons why these have emerged, and to assess their effects in terms of the labour market outcomes and broader economic performance. It considers both the institutions of collective self-regulation (collective bargaining in particular) and the institutions and policies of state regulation (including the employment protection legislation, minimum wage, and state-organized institutions of insurance). The course also addresses the changing role of these institutions and policies in the context of current institutional and structural transformations. It thus considers the impact of globalization, technological change and that of the European integration, the role of the EMU in particular. Throughout the course, the issues are considered in a comparative perspective with the emphasis on the European and EU contexts.

This is a course in applied interdisciplinary social science, drawing eclectically on research in labour sociology, industrial relations, political economy, and labour economics. It draws, to a considerable extent, on research conducted by international policy institutions such as the OECD and the IMF. This serves to consider the evolution of thinking on labour market policies in these institutions and thus their advice to policy makers.

Structure of the course

1. Introduction

2. The employment relationship, collective representation, trade unions

3. Collective bargaining systems, variation, evolution

4. Collective bargaining: effects

5. State regulation and insurance

6. Varieties of capitalism, growth regimes

7. EMU and labour market institutions

8. Globalization

9. Automation, new forms of work

10. & 11. Case studies (students’ presentations of their projects)

Organization of work

Eight regular sessions (80 minutes each) follow the introductory housekeeping meeting. A regular session includes a lecture and seminar discussion on the given topic, giving students access to relevant theories, research, and data. Required reading is prescribed for each regular session and the familiarity with its content is a prerequisite for participation in the seminar discussion. Recommended reading is suggested for each topic for those interested in going in more depth on the topic, or writing a research paper in that area. Weekly entries into class journal record and facilitate the learning process in this core part of the course.

For required readings, hyperlinks to open access documents are provided below. Readings that are not publicly available can be downloaded from SIS.

Sessions 10 and 11 are dedicated to presentation of draft version of students’ research papers. These are longer sessions (2*80 minutes). Students present drafts of their research paper. These are discussed by the group. In this way, students get feedback to support final revisions of the paper.

Two research weeks are inserted before the presentation of research papers. See detailed schedule in a separate document (available in SIS).

The course is run fully online this year. We will use Zoom that allows participatory learning, including breakout sessions. To make the experience more human and to facilitate student participation, it is required that the students keep their camera on and make themselves visible to the rest of the group throughout the class. Students who find themselves in an environment that they deem incompatible with this requirement need to seek permission to switch off their camera (for each class).

Requirements

· Participation in weekly sessions is mandatory.

· It is essential to get closely familiar with the required reading before attending the respective lecture. This allows students to take part in the in-class activities.

· In any case, the student cannot get away without reading the required texts as they need to demonstrate their familiarity with the text in the weekly entries to their course journal.

· Students need to send the up to date journals to the lecturer on the second day after the respective class by email.

· Students who had to miss a class still need to prepare and submit a journal entry for that week.

· Research papers are due on 30 June 2021. There will be no grace period for late papers. (Resubmission 1: 30 July 2021, resubmission 2: 10 September 2021.)

Journal

The course journal includes a weekly reflection on the learning experience, relating the lecture material and the seminar discussion to the required reading. Each entry is expected to be a half page to one page long (single space, with some variation allowed). The students should reflect on what they have learned in the class and on the extent to which the information and claims in the lecture and in the in-class discussion complements or contradicts the information or claims in the required readings. The entry should conclude with a statement that summarizes a point of view of the student on the subject matter, or any of its aspects.

Research paper/essay: A case study (about 2,000 words)

The research paper applies insights learned in this course in a case study. The latter can focus on one country, or a sector in a country, or even one company. Some examples of topics: The evolution of the system of industrial relations in Romania: what type of industrial relations?; What was the role of the EU in shaping the workplace regulation and industrial relations in Slovakia?; What shaped the industrial relations in the automotive industry in Czechia? What explains the low gender pay gap in Belgium? Should we expect robots to kill jobs in Hungary? What are the effects of the fragmented employment protection system in Poland? The evolution of OECD thinking on collective bargaining, What regulation should apply to platform work? What are the challenges of worker organizing in Amazon?

There is no obligation to make a research in the field, or generate new data. The research paper can be based only on review of the literature. In any case, the students are strongly advised to consult their topics (must include a research question) with the lecturer well in advance.

The following criteria are applied when evaluating the papers.

1. Is there a clear research question and focus? (Please note that the use of question mark tends to be a good indicator.)

How does the paper go about answering the question? Is there a main claim/conclusion developed in a logical way, with a use of evidence (can be both quantitative and qualitative)?
Does the paper apply concepts or theories covered in the class? Does it demonstrate knowledge or relevant concepts/theories? Are these actually applied to explain/illuminate the phenomena under consideration?
How is the information presented? Is the language comprehensible? Is there a logical structure? Are sources cited? Does it comply with the length requirements?
Does the student present original ideas or evidence? Does it apply existing research or frameworks in a new context, or use it to develop broader claims?

Evaluation

· Journal 50%

· Research paper (case study) 50%

1. Introduction

This is a short housekeeping session. It is not expected that the students will have read the required reading before the class (but they are expected to catch up after the class). The journal entry should be merged with Week 2; the reading is complementary.

Required reading

Burawoy, Michael. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process Under Monopoly Capitalism. Chicago London: The University of Chicago Press, 1982, Chapter 4 (Thirty years of making out).

Casse, Christelle (2019). Working at Amazon.com: from honeymoon to divorce. HesaMag #19, spring-summer 2019, pp. 49-51.

Grégoire, Denis (2017). Delivering for FoodTech: at your own risk. HesaMag #16, autumn-winter 2017, pp. 17-21.

Recommended

Burawoy, Michael. The Politics