A study of the operation of labour markets from an industrial relations perspective

Dobson, JR 2010, A study of the operation of labour markets from an industrial relations perspective , PhD thesis, Salford : University of Salford.

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Abstract

This PhD by published works falls entirely within the field of industrial relations and contributes to three distinctive areas of the subject - general industrial relations, industrial relations in the steel industry and the operation of labour markets in Central and Eastern Europe. A vigorous debate is currently taking place about the future of industrial relations and whether the subject should be narrowly defined and be about trade unions and collective bargaining, or alternatively about all aspects of employment relations, including the non-unionised. Concern has also been expressed that most research was conducted within a very narrow definition of the subject. The publications submitted for this PhD contribute to widening the field of industrial relations by examining various aspects of how labour markets actually operate in practice. The research was mainly empirically based and consistently advanced arguments and conclusions which went against the orthodoxy of research at the time. A paper on good industrial relations questioned widely held assumptions underpinning public policy. A study of multi-unionism argued against the view that it was a widespread problem. Industrial relations in the steel industry needed to be viewed in an historical and environmental context. The loss of management control implicit in the operation of seniority promotion systems was found not to inhibit efficiency. Studies of the Latvian labour market found serious discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and language. While the collapse of communism was often assumed to have resulted in radical changes in industrial relations in Poland, my research discovered substantial continuity, albeit through informal systems. And finally, despite widespread concern about the level of immigration from Eastern Europe, my analysis of data obtained from the worker registration scheme, suggested that much of this concern was misplaced.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Contributors:	(Supervisor)
Schools:	Schools > Salford Business School
Depositing User:	Institutional Repository
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2012 13:34
Last Modified:	04 Aug 2022 11:26
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/26639

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