Comparative Employment Systems

Abstract

In this introduction to the book the authors explain how they bring together accounts linking varieties of capitalism, business systems, and different modes of regulation to the specific practice of employment relations. This includes recent accounts on internal diversity and change within varieties of capitalism and the role of social action and innovation in redefining paradigms At both theoretical and applied levels, the collection is explicitly comparative, providing frameworks and empirical evidence for understanding trends in employment relations in different parts of the world; indeed one of the major shortfalls of the existing literature on comparative capitalism is its lack of attention to the developing world. The introduction discusses first some of the broader societal factors shaping the evolution of employment relations and then examines how firms and firm-level institutions are evolving within this broader context as well as summarizing the key findings of each chapter in this volume.