| Objectives |
Within the framework of Varieties of Capitalism (VoC), Austria is conceived as coordinated market economy where firms depend heavily on non-market relationships to coordinate their endeavours with other actors. These non-market modes of coordination include collaborative, as opposed to competitive, relationships with state actors and employees’ representatives at macro-political (social partnership), sector-related (wage bargaining) and firm level (co-determination rights). The course focuses on changes in the economic and institutional environments for business and labour in Austria since the 1980s with a particular emphasis on industrial relations actors and their strategies within and beyond national borders. In theoretical terms we draw on neo-corporatism and sociological Institutionalism to explain varieties in the economic performance and strategic behaviour of labour relations actors.
Aim of the course:
Students receive an insight into the economic and institutional (regulative, normative and cultural) context of Austrian firms and labour from a country comparative perspective. Besides changes at sector and national level, transnational and European supranational developments in the institutional environment will be taken into account.
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| Subject |
Issue Title
Topic 1 The genesis of Austrian business and labour associations
- What is the role of business and labour associations in capitalist economies?
- Why did economic and business structures in late 19th century foster the development of interest associations?
- How did Austrian neo-corporatism after WW II come into existence?
Topic 2 Industrial relations in comparative perspective
- How do Austrian industrial relations (IR) differ from other IR in other developed countries?
- How can these differences be explained?
Topic 3 Business associations and trade unions
- At which societal levels do industrial relations actors cooperate?
- Social partnership at political level
- Sector collective bargaining
- Firm-level bargaining and codetermination
Topic 4 Labour market flexibility and trade union strategies
-What strategies do employers use to increase labour flexibility?
-What role does economically dependent self-employment play in Austria?
-How do Austrian trade unions respond to rising levels of non-standard employment?
Topic 5 European field(s) of industrial relations
-Is there an organisational field of industrial relations at transnational, European level?
-How have business associations and trade unions responded to processes of economic and political Europeanization?
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| Study material |
Mandatory literature
Thelen, Kathleen (2001), Varieties of Labor Politics in the Developed Democracies. In Peter Hall and David Soskice (eds), Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford UP, 71-103.
Traxler, Franz (2007), Austria. In Franz Traxler and Gerhard Huemer (eds), Handbook of Business Interest Associations, Firm Size and Governance. A Comparative Analytical Approach. Routledge, 39-63.
Additional literature
Traxler, Franz and Susanne Pernicka (2007), The State of Unions: Austria. Journal of Labor Research 18(2), 207-232.
Traxler Franz, Bernd Brandl and Vera Glassner (2008), Pattern bargaining: An investigation into its agency, context and evidence. British Journal of Industrial Relations 46(1): 33–58.
Pernicka, Susanne and Vera Glassner (2012), Horizontal Europeanization through trade union strategies in wage bargaining? A neoinstitutional framework, HoEu-Working Paper No. 2/2012, www.horizontal-europeanization.eu/en/pre-prints.
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