Understanding employment systems from a gender perspective: pitfalls and potentials of new comparative analytical frameworks

Economic globalization, welfare state transformation as well as political and social change on national and supranational level impact on national labor markets in advanced societies in complex ways. From a gender perspective, these dynamics of change entail deregulation as well as re-regulation of employment systems and at the same time are triggered by shifts in gender relations. Addressing this complexity poses challenges to scholarly research comparing employment systems and systemizing cross-national variations of labor market regimes which tend to neglect gender relations as a relevant factor of change. This context sets the framework for our question on how ongoing changes in employment systems and in gender relations are taken up in recent scholarship. We focus on three approaches prominent in the mainstream scholarly debate which address the current state of employment systems in advanced economies in comparative perspective spanning from political economy to micro economics and economic sociology, namely the Varieties of Capitalism (VOC) approach (Hall/Soskice 2001), Marsden's micro-economic theory of employment systems (1999) and Fligstein's work 'The architecture of markets' (2001). The approaches differ in the assignment of agency (to firms, employees and the state) as well as in the assessment of the role of educational institutions for shaping employment systems. They thus dispose of different pitfalls and potentials for analyzing the gendered character of change of employment systems. -- Unter dem Einfluss von Globalisierung, Wohlfahrtsstaatstransformation und politischen und gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen sind nationale Arbeitsmärkte in fortgeschrittenen Marktökonomien erheblichen Veränderungen ausgesetzt. In geschlechtssensibler Perspektive wird deutlich, dass hier nicht nur Deregulierung von Beschäftigung sondern auch Re- Regulierung eine Rolle spielt, ebenso wie Arbeitsmarktdynamiken auch durch Veränderungen im Geschlechterverhältnis beeinflusst sind. Diese Komplexität des Wandels stellt eine Herausforderung für die vergleichende Arbeitsmarkt- und Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung dar, in deren Typisierung von Arbeitsmarktregimes Geschlechterverhältnisse nur begrenzt Berücksichtigung finden. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragen wir, wie in einschlägigen neueren Ansätzen zur Analyse von Arbeitsmärkten Wandel von Beschäftigungssystemen und Geschlechterverhältnissen konzipiert wird. Im Mittelpunkt stehen drei prominente komparatistisch ausgerichtete Konzepte: der polit-ökonomische Ansatz ‚Varieties of Capitalism’ (Hall/Soskice 2001), die mikro-ökonomische Theorie von Beschäftigungssystemen von David Marsden (1999) und Neil Fligstein’s wirtschaftssoziologischer Ansatz ‚The architecture of markets’ (2001). Wie die Ergebnisse zeigen, unterscheiden sich die Ansätze in der Identifikation von relevanten Akteuren (Betriebe, Beschäftigte, Staat) ebenso wie in der Rolle, die Ausbildungsinstitutionen für die Strukturierung von Arbeitsmärkten zugeschrieben wird. Damit ergeben sich für die Analyse von geschlechtsspezifischen Aspekten von Beschäftigung unterschiedliche blinde Flecken und Erkenntnispotentiale.

Flexible equality: Men and women in employment in Japan

Changes in the structure and regulation of employment in Japan differentially impact men and women. The labor force participation of Japanese women is increasing, but women's employment is concentrated in relatively deregulated and flexible forms of non-standard and precarious employment. Women and men have relatively equal levels of unemployment at present, but the flexibility which characterizes part-time and temporary work lands women into the ranks of the unemployed throughout their life course, while men are more likely to experience unemployment at the entry and exit points to the labor market. Unemployment measures are directed mainly at alleviating the sources of male unemployment. Employment deregulation in Japan embodies varying degrees of re-regulation depending on the gender composition of work types. Part-time work is undertaken primarily by women, and remains relatively deregulated and unprotected. Temporary work regulations vary according to whether the occupations are typically performed by women (deregulated temporary work) or men (tightly regulated temporary work). Working hours have been deregulated for both men and women, but coupled with the deregulation of temporary work in female-dominated occupations, the change poses a greater disadvantage for women. The recent reform of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in Japan, while responding in part to social demands for strengthening the regulation of equality, remains unenforceable. The analysis concludes that rather than more equality in employment, recent Japanese developments point to the institutional embedding of a gender segmented labor market, with men continuing in relatively protected and regulated standard employment and women relegated to flexible and deregulated employment. --employment,flexibility,regulation,labor,gender,Japan

Understanding employment systems from a gender perspective: pitfalls and potentials of new comparative analytical frameworks

"Unter dem Einfluss von Globalisierung, Wohlfahrtsstaatstransformation und politischen und gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen sind nationale Arbeitsmärkte in fortgeschrittenen Marktökonomien erheblichen Veränderungen ausgesetzt. In geschlechtssensibler Perspektive wird deutlich, dass hier nicht nur Deregulierung von Beschäftigung sondern auch Re-Regulierung eine Rolle spielt, ebenso wie Arbeitsmarktdynamiken auch durch Veränderungen im Geschlechterverhältnis beeinflusst sind. Diese Komplexität des Wandels stellt eine Herausforderung für die vergleichende Arbeitsmarkt- und Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung dar, in deren Typisierung von Arbeitsmarktregimes Geschlechterverhältnisse nur begrenzt Berücksichtigung finden. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragen die Autorinnen, wie in einschlägigen neueren Ansätzen zur Analyse von Arbeitsmärkten Wandel von Beschäftigungssystemen und Geschlechterverhältnissen konzipiert wird. Im Mittelpunkt stehen drei prominente komparatistisch ausgerichtete Konzepte: der polit-ökonomische Ansatz 'Varieties of Capitalism' (Hall/ Soskice 2001), die mikro-ökonomische Theorie von Beschäftigungssystemen von David Marsden (1999) und Neil Fligstein's wirtschaftssoziologischer Ansatz 'The architecture of markets' (2001). Wie die Ergebnisse zeigen, unterscheiden sich die Ansätze in der Identifikation von relevanten Akteuren (Betriebe, Beschäftigte, Staat) ebenso wie in der Rolle, die Ausbildungsinstitutionen für die Strukturierung von Arbeitsmärkten zugeschrieben wird. Damit ergeben sich für die Analyse von geschlechtsspezifischen Aspekten von Beschäftigung unterschiedliche blinde Flecken und Erkenntnispotentiale." (Autorenreferat)"Economic globalization, welfare state transformation as well as political and social change on national and supranational level impact on national labor markets in advanced societies in complex ways. From a gender perspective, these dynamics of change entail deregulation as well as re-regulation of employment systems and at the same time are triggered by shifts in gender relations. Addressing this complexity poses challenges to scholarly research comparing employment systems and systemizing cross-national variations of labor market regimes which tend to neglect gender relations as a relevant factor of change. This context sets the framework for our question on how ongoing changes in employment systems and in gender relations are taken up in recent scholarship. We focus on three approaches prominent in the mainstream scholarly debate which address the current state of employment systems in advanced economies in comparative perspective spanning from political economy to micro economics and economic sociology, namely the Varieties of Capitalism (VOC) approach (Hall/ Soskice 2001), Marsden's micro-economic theory of employment systems (1999) and Fligstein's work 'The architecture of markets' (2001). The approaches differ in the assignment of agency (to firms, employees and the state) as well as in the assessment of the role of educational institutions for shaping employment systems. They thus dispose of different pitfalls and potentials for analyzing the gendered character of change of employment systems." (author's abstract

Flexible equality: men and women in employment in Japan

"Changes in the structure and regulation of employment in Japan differentially impact men and women. The labor force participation of Japanese women is increasing, but women’s employment is concentrated in relatively deregulated and flexible forms of non-standard and precarious employment. Women and men have relatively equal levels of unemployment at present, but the flexibility which characterizes part-time and temporary work lands women into the ranks of the unemployed throughout their life course, while men are more likely to experience unemployment at the entry and exit points to the labor market. Unemployment measures are directed mainly at alleviating the sources of male unemployment. Employment deregulation in Japan embodies varying degrees of re-regulation depending on the gender composition of work types. Part-time work is undertaken primarily by women, and remains relatively deregulated and unprotected. Temporary work regulations vary according to whether the occupations are typically performed by women (deregulated temporary work) or men (tightly regulated temporary work). Working hours have been deregulated for both men and women, but coupled with the deregulation of temporary work in female-dominated occupations, the change poses a greater disadvantage for women. The recent reform of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in Japan, while responding in part to social demands for strengthening the regulation of equality, remains unenforceable. The analysis concludes that rather than more equality in employment, recent Japanese developments point to the institutional embedding of a gender segmented labor market, with men continuing in relatively protected and regulated standard employment and women relegated to flexible and deregulated employment."[author´s abstract

Determinants of Outsourcing Domestic Labour in Conservative Welfare States

Women in conservative welfare states continue to do more unpaid domestic labour than their partners. Many European countries subsidize the outsourcing of routine housework and care labor to market services through tax credits and other measures, with the aim of reducing women's unpaid work. Most research on the determinants of outsourcing replicate gendered exchange-bargaining models, and neglect market factors relevant to explaining the substitution of unpaid labour. The neglect of market factors however, is mainly due to data limitations. Drawing on a new data set in the German Socio-Economic Panel Innovation Study (SOEP-IS) develop models, which include market as well as resource factors in examining the determinants of outsourcing domestic labour. The analyses confirm previous research findings, that households with more resources are more likely to outsource. Thus, the availability of tax credits for household purchases does not seem to encourage households with lower incomes to shift unpaid domestic labour to the market. In contrast to previous research findings based on exchange-bargaining theory, relative resources of women are neither predictors of more or of less outsourcing. Models explaining the gendered division of labour are not necessarily transferable to the study of outsourcing unpaid labour to the market. Previous research in Germany finds that partners revert to traditional gendered divisions of labour when they become parents. We find that the presence of young children increases the probability of outsourcing, suggesting that buying-in services may be a way in which re-traditionalization is averted. Overall, market factors have a strong impact on whether households outsource or not, especially demand for eldercare and the availability of services. Yet most labour available to German households is not supplied by the service sector, but from the black market. The article concludes that future research needs to address the interaction of demand and supply side factors, ideally in cross-national household-level analyses

Callcenter in Polen: The Global Call Centre Industry Projekt ; Ergebnisse der Telefonumfrage in Polen

Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse wurden anhand der ersten standardisierten Telefonumfrage gewonnen, die im Bereich der Callcenterforschung im Rahmen des internationalen Projektes "The Global Call Centre Industry" in Polen durchgeführt wurde. Ziel ist es, die Bandbreite der Managementpraxis in Callcentern zu untersuchen und der Frage nachzugehen, welche Zusammenhänge zwischen diesen Praktiken, dem wirtschaftlichen Erfolg und den Arbeitsbedingungen in Callcentern bestehen. Die Samplingstrategie für das polnische CC-Sample bestand darin, aus der Datenbank des nationalen Registers Unternehmen nach Schlüsselwörtern herauszusuchen, die auf die Erstellung von Callcenter-Dienstleistungen schließen lassen. Beispielschlüsselwörter waren Callcenter, Inhouse Call Center, telefonisches Marketing, telefonisches Direktmarketing, telefonischer Kundendienst, Telezentrum und Telemarketing. Damit wurden insgesamt 348 Einträge erreicht, die im zweiten Schritt telefonisch überprüft wurden. Es stellte sich heraus, dass darunter viele kleine Betriebe mit aufgeführt wurden, die im Sinne der Mindestdefinition von Callcentern keine Callcenter waren. Als besonders schwierig erwies sich, ein allgemein gültiges und von allen Betrieben akzeptiertes Verständnis des Begriffs Callcenter herauszuarbeiten und den Klärungsgesprächen zur Grundlage zu legen. Dass es ziemlich differierende Vorstellungen vom Begriff Callcenter gab, war am Anfang der Gespräche nicht klar. Nach weiteren Klärungsgesprächen umfasste die Auswahlgesamtheit (Samplingliste) insgesamt 257 Callcenter. Diese Unternehmen wurden angeschrieben und um die Teilnahme an der telefonischen Umfrage gebeten. Die standardisierte, computerunterstützte Telefonumfrage wurde durch das Sozialwissenschaftliches Umfragezentrum der Universität Duisburg-Essen durchgeführt. Mit der Erhebung wurde am 15.10.2004 begonnen. Beendet wurde die Feldphase am 19.11.2004. Infolge stichprobenneutraler Ausfälle (9,7%) und einer ersten Bereinigungsphase verringerte sich die Anzahl der Callcenter in der Stichprobe auf 112. Nach der zweiten Bereinigungsphase konnten im Rahmen der Telefonumfrage 75 Interviews realisiert werden. Die Rücklaufquote lag somit bei 67%. Die Befragungszeit lag durchschnittlich bei 50 Minuten, befragt wurden Mitglieder des Managements oder PersonalleiterInnen. (ICD2

The Issue of Preschool Education from an International Perspective

本稿は,「女性の社会進出」と「海外からの労働者の移入」によって変化しつつあるドイツの就学前教育の現状を,三鷹とドイツのデュイスバーグで働く女性として子育てをしてきた筆者の経験を踏まえて報告するものである.19世紀半ば,フレデリック・フレーベルが旧東ドイツに設立した幼稚園は,単に「就学前の児童をケアする」という役割だけでなく,隣接する地域社会の発展に寄与するという面も持ち合わせた地域社会型施設であった.フレーベルにとって幼稚園とは,子供の個性の育成の場であるとともに,地域社会生活の訓練の場としての意味合いも大きかったのである.こうしたフレーベルの教育理念は現在の就学前教育にも受け継がれているが,社会が変容するにつれ,地域社会と幼稚園との関わりは次第に希薄になっていった.1980～90年以降,就業形態の変化や女性の社会進出などによって社会体制が大きく変化した.それにもかかわらず幼稚園の形態は以前と同様で,保護者の要望に沿わないことから,現状に即した方向への改善を望む声が高まりつつある.その様な状況の中で現れたのが,「保護者先導」という独特な形態の幼稚園である.地域社会の保護者達によって構成・運営されるこの幼稚園では,保護者の事情に応じて柔軟な受け入れができるように考慮されるなど,地域との関係を重視するフレーベルの理念が活かされている.また,人口の約9%を移民が占めるドイツでは,外国人児童とその家族の幼稚園への受け入れも課題となっている.移民の増加を考えると,幼稚園はいまや社会的調和の中核をなす.しかしながら,行政側の受け入れ体制は依然として整っていない.文化的な機関としての幼稚園を通じて,外国人児童とその家族,そして地域内のすべての子供を受け入れ,子供がよりよく成長できるような環境と,平等に見なされるような空間を創り出すことが求められている

The Temporary Staffing Industry in Protected Employment Economies: Germany, Japan and the Netherlands

The paper addresses how the temporary staffing industry secures social security and a degree of employment stability in three non-liberal market economies with a well developed temp work sector and several decades of industry regulation. Until the 1980s unions in Germany, Japan and the Netherlands effectively opposed the deregulation of the staffing industry. Restrictions placed on the temporary staffing industry institutionalized an “employment-type” alternative to the US-style form of “registered” and “on-call” temp staffing. In the face of high unemployment in the 1990s unions participated in de-regulatory drives aimed at expanding the role of the industry in troubled national labor markets. In most cases, de-regulation dismantled key dimensions of the “employment type” of staffing, and unions shifted their efforts to securing equal treatment of temporary staff. To date, legislation has fallen short of mandating equal treatment, and in the best cases (Germany and the Netherlands) collective bargaining has taken on the role of securing equal wages for temporary staff. Japan, Germany and the Netherlands represent three different degrees of industry de-regulation, with the best case of equal treatment of temps in the Netherlands, and the deepest segmentation of temporary and regular workers in Japan. In comparison to Germany and Japan, Dutch unions early on engaged in regulating temporary staffing services. The early experience of regulating rather than rejecting contingent labor and the density of neo-corporatist institutions for social bargaining in the Netherlands means that Dutch unions have developed stronger capacities for regulating contingent employment despite the weak organization of contingent workers. Unions in Japan and Germany have only recently developed capacities for representing contingent labour, but the significant weakening of social bargaining in both countries is associated with growing labor market segmentation between temporary and regular employees