Delivering Flexibility: Contrasting Patterns in the French and the UK Food Processing Industry

This article provides a comparative analysis of changes in numerical and functional labour flexibility in the French and the UK food processing industry. Based upon case study data, it explores the interaction between competitive pressures and institutional and regulatory structures and their impact on workplace practices. The findings indicate that, faced with a similar competitive environment, firms in both countries have sought to increase labour flexibility. However, the predominant forms of flexibility vary across the two countries, partly reflecting the characteristics of national labour market institutions. Numerical flexibility dominates in the UK, with high levels of paid overtime and temporary agency work. In contrast, French workplaces rely more on internal functional flexibility while also achieving numerical flexibility through seasonal variations in work schedules and a wide range of short-term employment contracts. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2010

Discussion: A new labour economics?

At the 2008 SASE meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, David Marsden organized a session on the prospects for a renewed institutional labour economics. The debate began with introductory remarks by Paul Osterman, who sketched out an argument that at the time was still in its very early stages. The introduction and the subsequent comments were found by the audience to be highly productive. After the session, the editors of Socio-Economic Review asked the participants to share their views with the readers of the journal. We are grateful to Paul Osterman for taking up the challenge and summarizing the state of his thinking in a brief draft of what has yet to be developed into a formal paper. We also thank the discussants who agreed to write up their comments on the basis of Osterman's intermediate draft

Trabalho precário e precarização institucional nos Estados Unidos Precarious work and the institutional precarization in the United States

Este artigo analisa as bases institucionais do trabalho precário nos Estados Unidos através de um duplo processo de precarização: da relação contratual tradicional e, dada a fragmentação do quadro institucional, a inadaptação da lei trabalhista dos Estados Unidos. O texto procura enfatizar a importância do estatuto do trabalhador - a relação contratual de emprego - para o acesso do mesmo aos direitos e benefícios sociais básicos. Os efeitos da recente crise econômica e a resposta das políticas públicas são discutidos na conclusão.<br>We analyze the institutional underpinnings of precarious work in the United States through a double process of precarization: of the traditional contractual relationship and given the fragmented institutional framework and the inadaptation of U.S. labor law. The importance of the employee status - the contractual employment relationship - for access to social rights and basic benefits is emphasized. Effects of the recent economic crisis and public policy response are discussed in conclusion