Collective Bargaining Practices in Eastern Europe: Case Study Evidence from Romania

There are several studies on recent developments in collective bargaining in Eastern Europe, but there is still a debate about the extent to which collective bargaining practices resemble those in continental Western Europe. This paper aims to contribute to this debate, by examining primary data on collective bargaining practices in Romania using an actor-centred institutionalist approach. It focuses on collective bargaining in four large chemical companies. Comparisons are made to other countries in order to highlight the developments in Romanian cases. Unexpectedly, the study's findings point to an increase in state intervention in establishing the terms and conditions of employment after 1989, due to the state’s new roles during the transformation process that affected job security. The study suggests a considerable increase in the influence of top managers in determining pay and working conditions, while trade unions retained the considerable influence over social benefits in large companies. The findings show continuance of certain pre-1989 practices, such as a persistence of high state intervention and a limited independence of the trade unions from the management. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of institutional changes in the context of a shift from a centrally planned economy to a market-based economy.Trotz einer Vielzahl von Studien über die Entwicklungen der Tarifverhandlungen in Osteuropa in den letzten Jahren herrscht Uneinigkeit darüber, inwieweit die osteuropäischen Verhandlungspraktiken mit den westeuropäischen übereinstimmen. Dieses Papier trägt zu dieser Debatte bei, indem es die Ergebnisse empirischer Analysen von Tarifverhandlungen in Rumänien auf der theoretischen Grundlage des akteurzentrierten Institutionalismus analysiert. Die Untersuchung konzentriert sich auf vier Großunternehmen der chemischen Industrie. Es werden Vergleiche zu anderen Ländern gezogen, um die Entwicklungen in den rumänischen Fallbeispielen hervorzuheben. Unvorhergesehenerweise zeigen die Untersuchungsergebnisse, dass nach 1989 staatliche Eingriffe in der Bestimmung der Arbeitsbedingungen zugenommen haben. Dies ist auf die neuen Aufgaben des Staates zurückzuführen, die dieser während des Transformationsprozesses im Bereich der Beschäftigungssicherung übernommen hat. Die Studie zeigt einen merklichen Anstieg der Einflussnahme des Topmanagements auf Tarif- und Arbeitsbedingungen, während Gewerkschaften im Bereich der Sozialleistungen in großen Unternehmen einen weiterhin großen Einfluss ausüben. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine Weiterführung bestimmter Praktiken hin, die vor 1989 üblich waren, wie zum Beispiel die starke staatliche Intervention sowie die begrenzte Unabhängigkeit der Gewerkschaften vom Management. Dieses Working Paper trägt zum besseren Verständnis des institutionellen Wandels im Rahmen des Wechsels von einer Zentral- zu einer Marktwirtschaft bei.1 Introduction 2 Outlining features of collective bargaining in Eastern and Western Europe 3 Structural characteristics of collective bargaining in Romania 3.1 Heavy statutory regulation of the collective bargaining mechanism 3.2 Decentralized collective bargaining 3.3 Weak representativeness of the parties in practice 4 Collective bargaining process after 1989 4.1 The impact of the parties on the terms and conditions of employment 4.1.1 The role of the state 4.1.2 Employers and their representatives 4.1.3 Trade unions 4.2 The key bargaining issues: wages and social benefits 4.3 Collective disputes at company level 5 The outcomes of collective bargaining 6 Conclusions Reference

Explaining Diversity in Industrial Relations at Company Level in Eastern Europe: Evidence from Romania

Whilst most studies on the transformation of industrial relations (IR) in Eastern Europe focus on the common trends, this paper examines variations in IR practices at company level. It uses a revised version of the exchange model to analyse the evidence from nineteen case studies in Romania. As the exchange model argues that capital and labour are involved in a rational exchange, it would be expected that if a negative sum game occurs, the rational choice of the actors would be to move towards a zero or positive sum game. However, evidence indicates that nine companies investigated seem to have a long-term equilibrium with a negative sum game for capital and labour. It is argued that this is able to occur because, in addition to capital and labour, the government and, sometimes, the top management are key actors involved in complex games that sum to zero. The paper suggests that differences in the power relations between these four actors lead to variations in the IR types employed at company level within a country. The main contribution of the paper is twofold: firstly, it cites original evidence for the diversity of IR practices at company level; secondly, it operationalises a revised version of the exchange model that could be used in further research to explain the variations in IR at the company level in Eastern Europe. Overall, it aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of variations in IR at the company level.Im Gegensatz zur Mehrzahl der Studien über die Transformation der Arbeitsbeziehungen in Osteuropa, die sich mit allgemeinen Trends beschäftigen, werden in diesem Discussion Paper die Unterschiede in der Praxis der Arbeitsbeziehungen auf Unternehmensebene betrachtet. Als Raster für die Klassifikation von neunzehn rumänischen Unternehmen wird eine überarbeitete Version des Exchange Model entwickelt. Dieses Modell argumentiert, dass die Kapital- und die Arbeitnehmerseite rationale Tauschpartner in einem Aushandlungsspiel sind. Bei einem sich abzeichnenden Negativsummenspiel wäre somit davon auszugehen, dass die rationalen Entscheidungen der Akteure bewirken, dass sich die Konstellation in Richtung auf ein Nullsummenspiel oder ein Positivsummenspiel auflösen wird. In der Praxis jedoch ist bei neun der untersuchten Firmen ein langfristiges Gleichgewicht mit einem Negativsummenspiel für Kapital und Arbeit festzustellen. Dies wird damit begründet, dass als weitere Schlüsselakteure die Regierung und zuweilen auch die Leitung der Unternehmen in komplexe Nullsummenspiele eingebunden sind. Die Autorin geht davon aus, dass es die Unterschiede in den Machtbeziehungen dieser vier Akteure sind, die zu unterschiedlichen "Typen" von Arbeitsbeziehungen in Unternehmen innerhalb eines Landes führen. Das Discussion Paper trägt auf zweifache Weise zur Diskussion bei: Zum einen weist es eine Vielfalt von unterschiedlichen Formen der Arbeitsbeziehungen auf Unternehmensebene nach; zum anderen bietet die entwickelte überarbeitete Version des Exchange Model einen Ansatzpunkt für die zukünftige Erforschung der Arbeitsbeziehungen in den Unternehmen Osteuropas.1 Introduction 2 The impact of post-communist transformation on industrial relations 3 Explaining diversity in industrial relations at company level in CEECs Current debates Exchange model 4 Diverse industrial relations types at company level in Romania 5 A revised exchange model 6 Conclusions Reference

Spin dynamics in InAs-nanowire quantum-dots coupled to a transmission line

We study theoretically electron spins in nanowire quantum dots placed inside a transmission line resonator. Because of the spin-orbit interaction, the spins couple to the electric component of the resonator electromagnetic field and enable coherent manipulation, storage, and read-out of quantum information in an all-electrical fashion. Coupling between distant quantum-dot spins, in one and the same or different nanowires, can be efficiently performed via the resonator mode either in real time or through virtual processes. For the latter case we derive an effective spin-entangling interaction and suggest means to turn it on and off. We consider both transverse and longitudinal types of nanowire quantum-dots and compare their manipulation timescales against the spin relaxation times. For this, we evaluate the rates for spin relaxation induced by the nanowire vibrations (phonons) and show that, as a result of phonon confinement in the nanowire, this rate is a strongly varying function of the spin operation frequency and thus can be drastically reduced compared to lateral quantum dots in GaAs. Our scheme is a step forward to the formation of hybrid structures where qubits of different nature can be integrated in a single device

Spin electric effects in molecular antiferromagnets

Molecular nanomagnets show clear signatures of coherent behavior and have a wide variety of effective low-energy spin Hamiltonians suitable for encoding qubits and implementing spin-based quantum information processing. At the nanoscale, the preferred mechanism for control of quantum systems is through application of electric fields, which are strong, can be locally applied, and rapidly switched. In this work, we provide the theoretical tools for the search for single molecule magnets suitable for electric control. By group-theoretical symmetry analysis we find that the spin-electric coupling in triangular molecules is governed by the modification of the exchange interaction, and is possible even in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. In pentagonal molecules the spin-electric coupling can exist only in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. This kind of coupling is allowed for both $s=1/2$ and $s=3/2$ spins at the magnetic centers. Within the Hubbard model, we find a relation between the spin-electric coupling and the properties of the chemical bonds in a molecule, suggesting that the best candidates for strong spin-electric coupling are molecules with nearly degenerate bond orbitals. We also investigate the possible experimental signatures of spin-electric coupling in nuclear magnetic resonance and electron spin resonance spectroscopy, as well as in the thermodynamic measurements of magnetization, electric polarization, and specific heat of the molecules.Comment: 31 pages, 24 figure

Controlling Majorana hybridization in magnetic chain-superconductor systems

We propose controlling the hybridization between Majorana zero modes at the ends of magnetic adatom chains on superconductors by an additional magnetic adatom deposited close by. By tuning the additional adatom's magnetization, position, and coupling to the superconductor, we can couple and decouple the Majorana modes as well as control the ground state parity. The scheme is independent of microscopic details in ferromagnetic and helical magnetic chains on superconductors with and without spin-orbit coupling, which we show by studying their full microscopic models and their common low-energy description. Our results show that scanning tunneling microscopy and electron spin resonance techniques are promising tools for controlling the Majorana hybridization in magnetic adatoms-superconductor setups, providing a basis for Majorana parity measurements, fusion, and braiding techniques.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures + supplementary (6 pages

Histological changes in the vulva and vagina from ovariectomised rats undergoing oestrogen treatment

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the histological changes occurring in the vagina and vulva in ovariectomised female rats, as well as the response to the administration of injectable oestrogens. Material and methods: We used 30 female Wistar white rats, distributed as follows: group 1 — the control group, group 2 — the operated but untreated rats, and groups 3, 4 and 5 — operated rats, to which oestrogenic treatment was administered (Estradiol, Estradurin, Sintofolin) at a dosage of 0.2 mg/rat/day. After 14 days of treatment, all animals were sacrificed and vaginal and vulvar biopsies were taken from all groups. Results: In group 2, we encountered structural changes of the vaginal mucosa, with severe atrophy and alterations in the thickness of the vagina and vulva. In groups 3, 4 and 5 we found marked hyperplasia of the vaginal and vulvar epithelium, eosinophilic and mast cell infiltration in the chorion. Conclusions: Our study proves that the histopathological changes during anoestrus after administration of oestrogens are cell hyperplasia, thickening of the superficial mucosal layer, eosinophilic and mast cells infiltrations, and chorionic congestion. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Estradiol therapy induces the most evident histological changes when compared to synthetic oestrogens such as Estradurin or Sintofolin.

Recent developments of lactic acid bacteria and their metabolites on foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria: Facts and gaps

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are common microorganisms found in various ecosystems including in plants, fermented foods, and the human body. Exploring the biodiversity of lactic acid microflora and characterization of LAB is a new approach to form a variety of starter communities to create innovative nutritional food matrices. There has been growing interest in LAB isolated from non-dairy environments as these bacteria exhibit significant metabolic diversity and have unique taste-forming activities. Disease may be prevented, or treated by LAB but the treatment of disease conditions with LAB is highly dependent on the host’s microbiome and diet and varies in both effectiveness and side effects from individual to individual. Future perspectives on the study of LAB may be related to the expansion of our knowledge in the fields of genetics and genetic engineering. The application of genetic science may help to improve existing strains and develop new strains with characteristics designed for specific purposes. Therefore, the preservative effects of LAB and their metabolites, as well as their interaction on the growth of food borne pathogens and food spoilage microorganisms were elucidated. In addition, the competitive models for microbial growth between LAB and other microorganisms as well as the role of LAB in the elimination of toxic compounds in food products were discussed. Moreover, the review provided an overview of the risks and benefits of using LAB in the food industry

Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics with a Spin Qubit

Circuit quantum electrodynamics allows spatially separated superconducting qubits to interact via a "quantum bus", enabling two-qubit entanglement and the implementation of simple quantum algorithms. We combine the circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture with spin qubits by coupling an InAs nanowire double quantum dot to a superconducting cavity. We drive single spin rotations using electric dipole spin resonance and demonstrate that photons trapped in the cavity are sensitive to single spin dynamics. The hybrid quantum system allows measurements of the spin lifetime and the observation of coherent spin rotations. Our results demonstrate that a spin-cavity coupling strength of 1 MHz is feasible.Comment: Related papers at http://pettagroup.princeton.edu