Documents Guardiancich, Igor 15 results

"Are countries reforming their labour market constrained by external political or financial institutions? This article analyses the supranational pressures impacting wage policy in European member states. Theoretically, it takes inspiration from the literature on international financial markets to analyse the key phases of a nascent multi-level policy cycle, where the European Commission plays a pivotal role. Empirically, it distinguishes between wage policy prescriptions (CSR database, 2011–2019, complemented with EUR-Lex) and reform events (LabRef database, 2008–2019) granting more or less protection to workers. Methodologically, it employs mixed regression models with country and year random intercepts finding out that: (a) the Commission, when recommending wage policy, unambiguously prefers reforms reducing workers' protection, thus displaying preferences aligned with those of international financial institutions; (b) through external conditionality, the pressures stemming from such biased approach exert a tangible impact on national policymaking, ultimately resulting in weakened labour market institutions and reduced well-being of workers."

"The 2021–2022 inflation crisis in the EU offers an opportunity to examine how diverse industrial relations systems respond to similar macroeconomic shocks. This article compares Romania and Slovenia, two post-communist countries whose industrial relations systems are poles apart. The expectation was that, in contrast to the enfeebled Romanian system, Slovenia would not only resort to social dialogue but also adopt comprehensive measures to shield workers from the dual energy- and food-related shock. Yet, there was less divergence than anticipated. In particular, while unilateralism took place in Romania because of the weakness of its unions post-2011, the interruption of tripartite negotiations in Slovenia was the result of the social partners' actions and not a deliberate government strategy. Hence, while confirming that governments play the main role in supporting social dialogue, this article suggests that the social partners also carefully ponder the costs and benefits of their involvement in tripartite policy-making."

"Social dialogue between government, employers' and workers' organizations is a powerful tool for correcting labour market imbalances and promoting jobs-rich economic recovery. During and since the economic and financial crisis which started in 2008, national social dialogue institutions in countries of the European Union (EU) have been tested but, in many cases, have demonstrated their potential to innovate and contribute to a return to positive growth.

This book brings together country case studies from eleven EU Member States, which document emerging trends in national social dialogue, focusing on developments since 2013. The authors shed light on the many factors that have influenced recent social dialogue and industrial relations developments, including the national economic and political context, the effectiveness of bipartite and tripartite institutions, and the European Semester. An introductory comparative overview chapter analyses overall trends and specific good practices at national level, drawing also on data from other countries of the EU-28.

This book will be a valuable resource for policymakers, employers' and workers' organizations, academics and practitioners who are seeking new ways to confront the profound changes and challenges facing the world of work today. Its findings reinforce the centrality of partnership through social dialogue in the pursuit of decent work and social justice."

"This paper examines the political economy of pension reforms in times of economic crisis and its impact on social dialogue and tripartite institutions in Slovenia. The Slovenian economy was badly hit by the global economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009, which was the worst crisis experienced by the country since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. This crisis, combined with the pressure of financial markets and international institutions forced the government to initiate several reforms, including changes to the pension system."

"The World Bank has supported the fundamental reform of unfair and wasteful Pay-As- You-Go (PAYG) systems around the world since 1994. It sponsors a systemic overhaul that involves the dual paradigmatic shift from collective to individual responsibility and from state to private provision. Central, eastern and south-eastern Europe very eagerly embraced the new old-age pension paradigm without, however, knowing what its future implications would be. Widespread criticism, as well as political and economic failures, elicited a re-thinking of the Bank's blueprint. This sounds not only as a mea culpa but it also signals that the new paradigm is a sometimes unnecessary and risky strategy which may fail to protect against old-age poverty as well as being politically very vulnerable. To substantiate this, the article accounts for the pension crises and responses in Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. The three countries ended up with radically different institutional designs of their reformed pension systems, only to be all, to a varying degree, politically, socially or fiscally unsustainable."

"Reliance on private retirement pensions is on the increase both at Member State level, via the spread of quasi-mandatory occupational plans, and at EU level, as a result of initiatives including the IORP Directive. This Working Paper analyses the legislative and market trends that underpin this development, assessing the impact of the global financial crisis, presenting the regulatory improvements required, and delineating the future prospects of the market for supplementary pensions. "

"The competitive pressures arising from European economic integration increasingly challenge the territorial sovereignty of national welfare states. This generates the need to situate domestic social security schemes amid the European Union's national and supranational as well as economic and social spaces. At the trans-national level, the European Commission's 2003 Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) Directive created the illusion that a single market for occupational pensions would shortly be within reach. This did not happen, however, as IORPs — being at one and the same time financial vehicles and social insurance institutions — embody the constitutional asymmetry between policies promoting market efficiency and policies promoting social protection. Whereas the elimination of financial and tax barriers has proceeded smoothly, harmonization of the social and labour components within the occupational pension domain did not occur, slowing down the development of pan-European pension plans. Nonetheless the road towards a single occupational pension market is still open, with first positive results emerging from the greater involvement of corporate and supranational actors."