Wage and employment decisions of enterprises in downsized industries:deliverable No. 11 to 13

The 5th framework programme research project ACCESSLAB researches the capability of candidate countries’ regions to deal with asymmetric shocks. Its goal is to provide analysts and policy makers with research results relevant to the process of enlargement. The project takes a broad and comparative view of labour market adjustments to address these issues. It examines the topic from both a macroeconomic and microeconomic viewpoint. It considers different adjustment mechanisms in depth and compares results with the European Union. It draws on a) the experiences in transition countries in the last decade, b) the experience of German integration and c) the experiences of border regions to gain insights on the likely regional labour market effects of accession of the candidate countries.

New dimensions on the economics of the entrepreneurial process

This thesis examines the transition of employees into entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on the role of workplace characteristics in influencing this movement. The first main chapter examines whether the determinants of becoming an intrapreneur differ from those that support transitions into independent entrepreneurship. The results show that intrapreneurs resemble employees rather than entrepreneurs, contrary to what the entrepreneurship theory would suggest. Yet it shows that those intrapreneurs that expect to acquire an ownership stake in the business, unlike the rest of intrapreneurs, possess traditional entrepreneurial traits. Chapter 3 investigates how workers’ degree of specialisation determines their decision to found a firm. It shows that entrepreneurs emerging from small firms, i.e. generalists, transfer knowledge from more diverse aspects of the business and create firms more related to the main activity of their last employer. Workers in large firms, however, benefit from higher returns to human capital that increase their opportunity costs to switch to entrepreneurship. Since becoming an entrepreneur would make part of their specialised skills unutilised, the minimum quality of the idea at which they would be willing to leave will be higher and, therefore, entrepreneurs emerging from large firms will be of highest quality. Chapter 4 analyses whether the reason to terminate an employment contract is associated with the fact that the majority of entrepreneurs appear to set up their business after having worked for a small firm. Moreover, it studies how this pattern varies as the labour market conditions worsen. The effect of layoffs turns out to be a key driver in the entry to entrepreneurship and it is found to exert a greater effect the smaller the firm workers are dismissed from. This has been reflected in an overall larger flow of employees from small firms moving into entrepreneurship over the recession.

Frontline agents of globalisation:the German merchant community in Glasgow, 1840s to 1914

During the second half of the nineteenth century, a German business community of about one hundred merchants and commercial clerks developed in Glasgow. Their trade networks extended not only to Germany but also to other world markets. The main arguments and findings of the microhistorical analysis include: numbers were significantly higher than previously assumed; endogenous recruitment based on ethnic and family ties was prevalent; migrants benefited from their migration-induced social capital (training, languages, intercultural competence) to fill a skills-gap in Britain; labour market competition at the junior career level was less pronounced than contemporaneous assessments suggested; naturalisation was taken out for purely pragmatic reasons; there was a sense of community at intra-ethnic level, but also with the local business elite. The case study is embedded into the larger context of Anglo-German economic relations and globalisation. A purely local perspective does not suffice to do justice to the wider significance of expatriate business communities in an age of economic globalisation.

Latin Americans in London:language, integration and ethnic identity

This thesis studies the links between language, migration and integration in the context of the 'new migrant' group of Latin Americans in London. It reviews the many ways in which language impacts the integration processes of migrants by influencing people's access to jobs, services, social contacts and information. By focusing on migrants' experiences this research also investigates the ways in which language and identity articulate, as well as the affective variables that are at play in the acquisition of the local language. With a large sector trapped in a cycle of poor command of English and labour market disadvantage, many Latin Americans experience exclusion and poverty. In reaction to this, a sector of the community is campaigning for ethnic minority recognition. This work reviews the debates for recognition and the strategy of organising around ethnicity, paying special attention to the role language plays in the process. The study is based on over two and half years of qualitative research, which included interviews, surveys, and long-term participant observation within a community organisation and a recognition campaign. Its interdisciplinary perspective allows the recognition of both the intimate links between language and identity, as well as the social and structural forces that influence migrants' linguistic integration. It unveils the practical and symbolic value that the mother tongue has for Latin American migrants and provides a broader account of their experiences. This research calls attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach to the study of language and migration in order to acknowledge the affective and social factors involved in the linguistic practices of migrants. By studying the community's struggles for recognition, this work evidences both the importance of visibility for minority groups in London and the intrinsic methodological limitations of monitoring through ethnic categorisation.

Good and bad institutions:is the debate over? Cross-country firm-level evidence from the textile industry

Using firm-level data from nine developing countries, we demonstrate that certain institutions, like restrictive labour market regulations, that are considered bad for economic growth might be beneficial for production efficiency, whereas good business environment, which is considered beneficial for economic growth, might have an adverse impact on production efficiency. We argue that our results suggest that there might be significant difference in the macro- and micro-impacts of institutional quality, such that the classification of institutions into 'good' and 'bad might be premature. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

Societal transformation and programmatic change in the CDU

This article places the changing policy profile of the CDU into the context of the gradual transformation of German society since the 1970s and especially since unification in 1990. It argues that in order to understand key areas where the CDU has reformed its programme, we must first understand the broader, meta-level trends in society. In its main section, the article sketches out the long-term changes that have occurred in three principal areas (demographics, labour market outcomes and the economic status and the role of women), and relates these to debates that have taken place in the CDU's programmatic profile. The article therefore concludes that consideration of the societal context complements agency-based explanations for programmatic change. © 2013 Association for the Study of German Politics.

The sound of silence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender discrimination in 'inclusive organizations'

Most studies on diversity and discrimination in the workplace have focused on 'visible' minorities such as gender or race, often neglecting the experiences of invisible minorities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. In this paper we explore the practices of inclusion/exclusion of LGBTs in the workplace in Italian social cooperatives, which are specifically founded to create employment for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. The study examines how organizations, which have an ethos focused on inclusion and mainly employ workers from specific social minority groups, manage the inclusion of LGBT workers. We also explore the experience of LGBT workers within these organizations. The paper reports that the culture of silence existing in the five organizations studied prevents LGBT employees from constructing a work identity which encompasses their sexual identity and prevents the organizations from achieving their aim of being fully inclusive workplaces. © 2013 British Academy of Management.

Phoenix industries and open innovation? The Midlands advanced automotive manufacturing and engineering industry

This paper explores the links between open innovation and the emergence of a ‘phoenix industry’ centred on the UK’s traditional automotive heartland, the West Midlands, which has developed a significant presence in automotive design and engineering, particularly among small and niche firms. Drawing on case study research, the paper investigates whether this can be considered as a phoenix industry, and to what extent open innovation has been important in the industry’s development. The paper considers relationships between firms and impacts in terms of changing economic and labour market conditions. The paper concludes by examining the role that public policy has played to date and might play in the future in supporting an emerging phoenix industry with open innovation features.

Plant closures and taskforce responses:an analysis of the impact of and policy response to MG Rover in Birmingham

This paper explores the socio-economic impacts and associated policy responses to the collapse of MG Rover at Longbridge in Birmingham. Critically, it attempts to move beyond a ‘standard’ taskforce narrative that emphasizes the role of the regional response. While recognizing that significant policy ‘successes’ were indeed evident at the regional level in anticipating and responding to the crisis, a wider perspective is required that situates this taskforce response in (1) a fuller understanding of labour market precariousness (that in turn mitigates some of its policy ‘successes’), and (2) more local perspectives that highlight the local impacts of closure, the role of the neighbourhood level officials and the third sector in mediating these. Taking this broader perspective suggests that longer-term, workers face a precarious situation and the need for policies to create and sustain ‘good quality’ jobs remains paramount. Adding in more local perspectives, a key lesson from the Longbridge experience for dealing with closures more generally is that the public policy responses must be: multidimensional in that they transcend narrow sector-based concerns and addresses broader spatial impacts; inclusive in that they build on a broad coalition of economic and social stakeholders; and long-term in that they acknowledge that adaptation takes many years. If anything, the Birmingham Longbridge experience demonstrates the difficulty of achieving such responses in the context of crisis where action is imperative and deliberation a luxury.

Variation in the length of an undergraduate degree:participation and outcomes

Recent policy in England has advocated the introduction of fast-track degrees to provide an alternative, shorter route to a bachelor's degree. It has been argued that this will widen participation in higher education and increase labour market flexibility by providing an option in which undergraduates spend one fewer years out of the labour market. Critics have suggested that the outcomes from this new undergraduate option will be worse than those for students following the standard length of undergraduate degree (which is three years for most subjects studied at universities in England). This criticism is based on a belief that students on the shorter degrees will be encouraged to 'cram', having less opportunity for reflection that will foster a deep understanding. These arguments are evaluated using data which compare students following two and three year degrees in the same subjects at the same university. © 2012 Copyright Society for Research into Higher Education.

Plant closures, precariousness and policy responses:revisiting MG Rover 10 years on

With automotive plants being closed in Australia and western Europe, this article reflects on the employment status of ex-MG Rover (MGR) workers following the closure of the Longbridge plant in 2005. In particular, it draws on Standing's typology of labour market insecurity and uses a mixed-methods approach including an analysis of a longitudinal survey of some 200 ex-MGR workers, and in-depth interviews with ex-workers and policy-makers. While the policy response to the closure saw significant successes in terms of the great majority of workers successfully adjusting into re-employment, and with positive findings in terms of re-training and education, the paper finds significant challenges in terms of security of employment, income, job quality and representation at work years after closure. In particular, the paper posits that the general lack of attention to employment security at the macrolevel effectively undermined elements of a positive policy response over the longer run. This in turn suggests longer-term policy measures are required to address aspects of precariousness at work.

The local dimension of employment-related welfare policy in Germany, England and Sweden

The link between work and welfare is a key pathway of modern welfare state development in Western Europe. National governments face a constant balancing act between the welfare expectations of the labour forces and the labour market liberalisation demands of the business communities. Facilitating the transit from welfare into employment has therefore become an important tool for the British, German and Swedish governments, providing labour as and when needed while keeping welfare expenditure in check. However, the approaches to organising active labour market policies are quite different, notably with regard to the territorial dimension. Although labour markets are quite diverse in all three cases, the role of local authorities, local agencies and local labour market actors from the private and voluntary sector are generally under-developed and apparently under-appreciated, but in different ways and for different reasons. The article compares current employment-related welfare provisions and approaches to develop active labour market policies in the three countries, and concludes that while certain structural and procedural similarities exist, the basic political priorities and actual support and services provided remain very far apart.

Reforming the Swedish employment-related social security system:activation, administrative modernization and strengthening local autonomy

The Swedish system of social security has often been regarded as comprehensive and comprehensive and inclusive. During major reforms in the 1990s and 2000s, it has maintained its essential character as a popular and well-endowed provider of social security and stability. Employment-related benefits are generous in financial terms, but come with the need for recipients to remain actively engaged in the economic or educational field. However, Sweden’s geographical and demographic diversity made it necessary to increase the role of local authorities in implementing active labour market policies. This article tracks these developments since the mid-1990s, both with regard to changing the benefits system and with regard to changing local government involvement. It argues that backed by broad political support, the Swedish system has achieved the necessary modernisation and adaptation to remain a viable alternative to more neo-liberal welfare retrenchment projects conducted in other European countries.