Transnational regulation of temporary agency work compromised partnership between Private Employment Agencies and Global Union Federations

This article critically assesses the potential for the international regulation of temporary agency work (TAW) through building partnership between the Global Union Federations (GUFs) and major Private Employment Agencies (PrEAs). Given the limits of existing national and international regulation of TAW, particularly in developing countries, and the current deadlock in dialogue through the International Labour Organization, the argument of this article is that Transnational Private Labour Regulation (TPLR) offers a unique opportunity to establish a basis for minimum standards for temporary agency workers. This article goes on to propose three potential TPLR frameworks that, although compromised, are transparent, fair and sufficiently elastic to accommodate the distributive and political risks associated with partnership. They also offer important gains, namely increasing the competitive advantage of the PrEAs involved, minimum standards for agency workers and ‘field enlarging’ strategies for the GUFs and their affiliates

THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF RANDSTAD CITIES WITHIN COMPARATIVE WORLDWIDE CORPORATE NETWORKS

Today, the importance of the Randstad agglomeration is often discussed in terms of the economic coherence between its four largest cities. This is remarkable when several leading authors argue that the economic importance of cities is strongly determined by economic networks between cities worldwide. This discrepancy stems from the fact that limited empirical research exists on corporate networks. Furthermore, the relative importance of cities within various studies is based on different functional types and spatial scales of data, making the results incomparable. Therefore, in this paper, the relative importance of the four largest Randstad cities is explored within three independent, comparative networks (top 100 global firms, top 100 European firms, and top 100 Dutch firms). Employing network analysis techniques, this paper evaluates the local, supra-regional and global importance of the four Randstad cities within the three independent networks. The results show that the relative importance and network structures of these four cities are highly dependent on the economic size and locality of the initial headquarters and that Amsterdam proves to be the most important Randstad city in all three scales of corporate networks. Copyright (c) 2009 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

Motives for Innovation Co-operation – Evidence from the Canadian Survey of Innovation

In this paper we analyse the decision of firms in the Canadian manufacturing sector to co-operate on innovation projects. Our focus is on the motives behind this decision and the firm characteristics, both general and with respect to innovation activities, which influence the motives for innovation co-operation. Using data from the Canadian Survey of Innovation 2005 we find that the factors influencing the decision to co-operate in order to access external knowledge are very similar to those influencing cost-sharing motives. We also show that public funding leads firms to cooperate in order to access external knowledge and R&D

Developments in the Dutch Urban System on the Basis of Flows

Limtanakool N., Schwanen T. and Dijst M. Developments in the Dutch urban system on the basis of flows, Regional Studies. In this study, the 1992, 1995, 1999, and 2002 Netherlands National Travel Surveys are employed to examine the change in the configuration of the urban system on the basis of commute and leisure flows between 23 daily urban systems (DUSs). The results for commuting flows provide some evidence of smaller differences in the importance of DUSs in the system over the ten-year period in the Dutch urban system. Leisure flows, however, do not reveal clear evidence of such development. It is found that the development process occurs very slowly and the developments between DUSs in close proximity to one another take place at a faster pace than between those located further away. [image omitted] Limtanakool N., Schwanen T. et Dijst M. Le developpement du systeme urbain neerlandais sur la base des flux, Regional Studies. A partir des enquetes de 1992, 1995, 1999 et 2002 sur les trajets quotidiens aux Pays-Bas, menees au niveau national, cette etude cherche a examiner l'evolution de l'ossature du systeme urbain sur la base des migrations quotidiennes entre vingt-trois Daily Urban Systems (DUS; systemes urbains quotidiens) pour se rendre au travail et au loisir. Pour ce qui est des migrations quotidiennes pour se rendre a la zone de travail. Les resultats laissent voir de faibles differences quant a l'importance des DUS dans le systeme urbain neerlandais sur une periode de dix annees. Cependant, les migrations quotidiennes pour se rendre a la zone de loisir ne font pas preuve d'un tel developpement. Il s'avere que le processus de developpement evolue tres lentement et que les developpements entre DUS a proximite evoluent plus rapidement que ne le font ceux qui sont entre DUS a plus grande distance. Systeme urbain Flux urbains Polycentrisme Pays-Bas Limtanakool N., Schwanen T. und Dijst M. Entwicklungen im hollandischen urbanen System auf der Grundlage von Stromen, Regional Studies. In dieser Studie werden mit Hilfe der nationalen Verkehrserhebungen in den Niederlanden von 1992, 1995, 1999 und 2002 die Veranderungen in der Konfiguration der urbanen Systeme anhand der Verkehrsstrome zu Arbeits- und Freizeitzwecken zwischen 23 Einzugsgebieten untersucht. Die Ergebnisse bei den Verkehrsstromen von Berufspendlern liefern einige Anzeichen fur kleinere Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Bedeutung der Einzugsgebiete im System uber den zehnjahrigen Zeitraum des hollandischen urbanen Systems. Bei den Verkehrsstromen zu Freizeitzwecken werden hingegen keine klaren Anzeichen fur eine solche Entwicklung sichtbar. Wir stellen fest, dass der Entwicklungsprozess ausserst langsam vonstatten geht und dass sich die Entwicklungen zwischen nahe beieinander liegenden Einzugsgebieten schneller vollziehen als die zwischen weiter voneinander entfernt liegenden Gebieten. Urbanes System Urbane Verkehrsstrome Polyzentrismus Niederlande Limtanakool N., Schwanen T. y Dijst M. Desarrollo en el sistema urbano holandes segun los flujos, Regional Studies. Con ayuda de las encuestas nacionales sobre el trafico en los Paises Bajos de 1992, 1995, 1999 y 2002, en este ensayo analizamos el cambio en la configuracion del sistema urbano en funcion de los flujos de desplazamiento por motivos laborales y de ocio entre veintitres sistemas urbanos de movimientos pendulares diarios. En los resultados de los flujos de desplazamientos por motivos laborales se observan pequenas diferencias en cuanto a la importancia de los sistemas urbanos diarios en el sistema durante un periodo de diez anos en el sistema urbano holandes. Sin embargo, los flujos de ocio no indican una clara evidencia de tal desarrollo. Observamos que el proceso de desarrollo ocurre muy lentamente y los desarrollos entre los sistemas urbanos diarios que estan proximos entre ellos tienen lugar a un ritmo mas rapido que entre los que estan mas lejos. Sistema urbano Flujos urbanos Policentrismo Los Paises BajosUrban system, Urban flows, Polycentrism, the Netherlands,