Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Regulatory Indeterminacy and Protection in Contemporary Labour Markets: Innovation in Research and Policy

  • Chapter
Creative Labour Regulation

Part of the book series: Advances in Labour Studies ((AILS))

Abstract

The first volume drawn from the work of the Regulating for Decent Work network, Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation, responded to the simplistic empirical studies on the economic impact of labour regulations that have become increasingly influential since the 1990s (Lee and McCann 2011a). That volume identified the use of indicator-based methodologies to quantify and compare labour regulations, most prominently in the World Bank’s Doing Business project, as a key evolution in the deregulatory project that has been associated with Washington consensus policy agendas and fuelled by the neoclassical economic tradition (Lee and McCann 2011b). This empirical work, and its absorption into policy discourses, was argued to significantly expand the deregulatory narrative along two axes: (1) to extend the preoccupation with minimum wage and employment protection laws to other facets of labour law; and (2) to reach beyond the advanced industrialized economies more firmly to embrace the regulatory frameworks of the developing world (Lee and McCann 2008).

The authors are grateful for valuable comments on an earlier draft by Damian Grimshaw, David Kucera, Guy Mundlak and Jill Rubery, participants at the Workshop on Labour Law and Development, Geneva, February 2013, and two anonymous reviewers. The chapter has benefited from a period spent by Deirdre McCann at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aghion, P.; Algan, Y.; Cahuc, P. 2008. ‘Can policy interact with culture? Minimum wages and the quality of labour relations’, IZA Discussion Paper No. 3680 (Bonn: IZA).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aleksynska, M.; Schindler, M. 2011. ‘Labour market regulations in low-, middle-and high-income countries: A new panel database’, Working Paper No. 11/154, 1 July (Washington, DC: IMF).

    Google Scholar 

  • Amengual, M. 2010. ‘Complementary labor regulation: The uncoordinated combination of state and private regulators in the Dominican Republic’, World Development, vol. 38, no. 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, D.; Shih, T.H. 2010. ‘A fair model of globalisation? Labour and global production in Cambodia’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 401–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arup, C; Gahan, P.; Howe, J.; Johnstone, R.; Mitchell, R.; O’Donnell, A. 2006. Labour Law and Labour Market Regulation: Essays on the Construction, Constitution and Regulation of Labour Markets and Work Relationships (Leichardt, NSW: Federation Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrientos, S.; Mayer, F.; Pickles, J.; Posthuma, A. 2011. ‘Decent work in global production networks: Framing the policy debate’, International Labour Review, vol. 150, 297–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bassanini, A.; Duval, R. 2006. ‘Employment patterns in OECD countries: Reassessing the role of policies and institutions’, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 35 (Paris: OECD).

    Google Scholar 

  • Belser, P.; Sobeck, K. 2012. ‘At what level should countries set their minimum wages?’, International Journal of Labour Research, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 105–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beresford, M. 2009. ‘The Cambodian clothing industry in the post-MFA environment: A review of developments’, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 366–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, J.; Cazes, S. 2008. ‘Policymaking gone awry: The labor market regulations of the Doing Business Indicators’, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal, vol. 29, no. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berik, G.; Rodgers, Y.V.D.M. 2010. ‘Options for enforcing labour standards: Lessons from Bangladesh and Cambodia’, Journal of International Development, vol. 22, pp. 56–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertola, G. 2009. ‘Labour market regulation: Motives, measures, effects’, ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 21 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T. 2011. ‘Institutional reforms and dualism in European labour markets’, Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 4(b), pp. 1173–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T; Garibaldi, P.; Ribeiro, M. 2011. ‘The lighthouse effect and beyond’, Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 57, pp. S54–S78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T.; Hepple, B.; Macis, M. 2008. ‘Labour regulations in developing countries: A review of the evidence and directions for future research’, World Bank Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0833 (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boeri, T; van Ours, J. 2008. The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Botero, J.; Djankov, S.; La Porta, R.; Lopez-de-Silanes, F.; Schleifer, A. 2004, ‘The regulation of labour’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 119, no. 4, pp. 1339–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, D.; Krueger, A.B. 1994. ‘Minimum wages and employment: A case study of the fast-food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania’, American Economic Review, vol. 84 (September), pp. 772–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cazes, S.; Tonin, M. 2010. ‘Employment protection legislation and job stability: A European cross-country analysis’, International Labour Review, vol. 149, no. 3, pp. 261–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charness, G.; Kuhn, P. 2011, ‘Lab labor: What can labor economists learn from the lab?’, Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 4(a), pp. 229–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, H. 1990. ‘Independent contractors and the challenge of vertical disintegration to employment protection laws’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 10, pp. 353–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, W. 2007. Minimum Wages and Social Policy: Lessons from Developing Counties (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P.; Freedland, F. 2000. ‘Labour markets, welfare, and the personal scope of employment law’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, vol. 16, pp. 84–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S. 2001. ‘The changing concept of the “employer” in labour law’, Industrial Law Journal, vol. 30, pp. 72–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S. 2011. ‘The evidence-based case for labour regulation,’ in Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S.; Lele, P.; Siems, M. 2007. ‘The evolution of labour law: Calibrating and comparing regulatory regimes’, International Labour Review, vol. 146, pp. 133–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S.; Sarkar, P. 2008. ‘Assessing the long-run economic impact of labour law systems: A theoretical reappraisal and analysis of new time series data’, Industrial Relations Journal, vol. 39, pp. 453–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickens, R.; Machin, S.; Manning, A. 1999. ‘The effects of minimum wages on employment: Theory and evidence from Britain’, Journal of Labor Economics 17, no. 1, pp. 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinkelman, T; Ranchod, V. 2012. ‘Evidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa’, Journal of Development Economics, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedland, M.R.; Kountouris, N. 2011. The Legal Construction of Personal Work Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. 1996. ‘The minimum wage as a redistributive tool’, Economic Journal, vol. 106 (May), pp. 639–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, D.F. 2011. ‘A diagnostic methodology for regulating decent work’, in Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fudge, J.; Owens, R. (eds) 2006. Precarious Work, Women, and the New Economy: The Challenge to Legal Norms (Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gahan, P.; Mitchell, R.; Cooney, S.; Stewart, A.; Cooper, B. 2012. ‘Economic globalisation and convergence in labour market regulation: An empirical assessment’, American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 60, no. 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallie, D. (ed.) 2007. Employment Regimes and the Quality of Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghosheh, N. 2012. ‘Wage protection legislation in Africa’, Conditions of Work and Employment Research Paper Series No. 38 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, D.; Woods, N. 2006. ‘Making corporate self-regulation effective in developing countries’, World Development, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 868–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, A.; Scorse, J. 2002. ‘Multinationals and anti-sweatshop activism’, American Economic Review, vol. 100, no. 1, pp. 247–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ILO (International Labour Office). 2010. Global Wage Report 2010/2011: Wage Policies in Times of Crisis (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO 2012. Global Wage Report 2012/13: Wages and Equitable Growth (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, L.E; Krueger, A.B. 1992. ‘The effect of the minimum wage on the fast-food industry’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October), pp. 6–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolben, K. 2004 ‘Trade, monitoring and the ILO: Working to improve conditions in Cambodia’s garment factories’, Yale Human Rights & Development Journal, vol. 7, pp. 79–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucera, D. (ed.) 2007. Qualitative Indicators of Labour Standards: Comparative Methods and Applications (Dordrecht and Geneva: Springer and ILO).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. 2012, ‘“Varieties of minimum wage system”: Through the dubious lens of indicator-based rankings’, International Labour Review, vol. 151, no. 3, pp. 261–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; Gerecke, S. 2013. ‘Regulatory indeterminacy and institutional design in minimum wages: Decentralization, coordination, and politics in Asian minimum wages’, paper presented at the 3rd Regulating for Decent Work Conference, July, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. 2008. ‘Measuring labour market institutions: Conceptual and methodological questions on “working-hour rigidity”’, in Berg, J.; Kucera, D. (eds), In Defence of Labour Market Institutions: Cultivating Justice in the Developing World (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds) 2011a. Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. 2011b. ‘New directions in labour regulation research’, in Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO), pp. 1–27.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; McCann, D. 2011c. ‘The impact of labour regulations: Measuring the effectiveness of legal norms in a developing country’, in Lee, S; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO), pp. 291–312.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.; Sobeck, K. 2012. ‘Low-wage work: A global perspective’, International Labour Review, vol. 151, no. 3, pp. 141–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemos, S. 2009. ‘Minimum wage effects in a developing country’, Labour Economics, vol. 16, pp. 224–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLeod, W.B. 2011. ‘Great expectations: Law, employment contracts, and labour market performance’, Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 4(b), pp. 1591–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maloney W.F.; Nunez Mendez, J. 2004. ‘Measuring the impact of minimum wages: Evidence from Latin America’, in Heckman, J.J.; Pages, C. (eds), Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin American and the Caribbean (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, A. 2003. Monopsony in Motion: Imperfect Competition in Labor Markets (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, A. 2011. ‘Imperfect competition in the labour market’, Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 4(b), pp. 973–1041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R. (ed.) 1995. Redefining Labour Law (Melbourne: Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R.; Gahan, P.; Stewart, A.; Cooney, S.; Marshall, S. 2011. ‘The evolution of labour law in Australia: Measuring the change’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, vol. 23, pp. 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke, D. 2006. ‘Multi-stakeholder regulation: Privatizing or socializing global labour standards?’, World Development, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 899–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piore, M.; Schrank, A. 2008. ‘Toward managed flexibility: The revival of labour inspection in the Latin World’, International Labour Review, vol. 147, no. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pires, R.R.C. 2011. ‘Governing regulatory discretion: Innovation and accountability in two models of labour inspection work’, in Lee, S; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Polaski, S. 2006 ‘Combining global and local forces: The case of labour rights in Cambodia’, World Development, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 919–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubery J.; Grimshaw, D. 2011. ‘Gender and the minimum wage’, in Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sari, D.; Kucera, D. 2011. ‘Measuring progress towards the application of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights: A tabular presentation of the findings of the ILO supervisory system’, Policy Integration Dept. Working Paper No. 99 (Geneva: ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shea, A.; Nakayama, M.; Heymann, J. 2010. ‘Improving labour standards in clothing factories: Lessons from stakeholder views and monitoring results in Cambodia’, Global Social Policy, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 85–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Special Issue on ‘Decent Work in Global Production Networks’. 2011. International Labour Review, vol. 150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, K. 2013. ‘The decline of the standard contract of employment in the United States: A socio-regulatory perspective’, in Stone, K.; Arthurs, H. (eds), Rethinking Workplace Regulation: Beyond the Standard Contact of Employment (New York: Russell Sage Foundation), pp. 58–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utting, P.; Marques, J.C. 2010 ‘Introduction: The intellectual crisis of CSR’, in Utting and Marques (eds), Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulatory Governance: Towards Inclusive Development? (Basingstoke: UNRISD and Palgrave).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vosko, L. 2011. ‘Precarious employment and the problem of SER-centrism in regulating for decent work’, in Lee, S.; McCann, D. (eds), Regulating for Decent Work: New Directions in Labour Market Regulation (Basingstoke and Geneva: Palgrave Macmillan and ILO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil, D.; Mallo, C. 2007. ‘Regulating labour standards via supply chains: Combining public/private interventions to improve workplace compliance’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 791–814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2005 Doing Business 2006 (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2011. Doing Business 2012 (Washington, DC: World Bank).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Sangheon Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Deirdre McCann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Durham University, UK

    Deirdre McCann (Reader in Law) (Reader in Law)

  2. Conditions of Work and Equality Department, International Labour Office, Switzerland

    Sangheon Lee (Research and Policy Coordinator) (Research and Policy Coordinator)

  3. International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland

    Patrick Belser (Senior Economist) (Senior Economist)

  4. International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland

    Colin Fenwick (Senior Labour Law Specialist) (Senior Labour Law Specialist)

  5. Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, Melbourne Law School, Australia

    John Howe (Director) (Director)

  6. ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

    Malte Luebker (Senior Regional Wage Specialist) (Senior Regional Wage Specialist)

Copyright information

© 2014 International Labour Organization

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lee, S., McCann, D. (2014). Regulatory Indeterminacy and Protection in Contemporary Labour Markets: Innovation in Research and Policy. In: McCann, D., Lee, S., Belser, P., Fenwick, C., Howe, J., Luebker, M. (eds) Creative Labour Regulation. Advances in Labour Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137382214_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation