In: Norlander, Peter; Erickson, Christopher (2022) : The Role of Institutions in Job Teleworkability Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic, GLO Discussion Paper, No. 1172, Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen
Abstract:How can employers worldwide be experiencing increasingly severe labour shortages in the face of globalization? Why don't wages rise in expanding economies? This article argues that declining union power has allowed employers to take the upper hand, setting pay and other conditions of employment as they would in a monopsonistic labour market. Rejecting the perfect competition model matching supply to demand, the authors argue that, far from being a pedagogical curiosity, monopsony's imbalance in bargaining power is widespread. Employee voice needs to be restored to counter the undesirable consequences of strong macroeconomic performance, such as wage inequality and reduced worker rights.
Resumen.¿Cómo es posible que, en todas las partes del mundo, en plena globalización, los empleadores sufran problemas cada vez más graves de escasez de mano de obra?¿Por qué no suben los salarios en las economías en expansión? La tesis que se defiende en este artículo es que, debido a la pérdida de fuerza de los sindicatos, los empleadores han tomado la delantera y establecen los salarios y otras condiciones de trabajo conforme a las reglas de un mercado laboral monopsonista. Los autores refutan el modelo de competencia perfecta, con su equilibrio entre oferta y demanda, y sostienen que, lejos de ser una curiosidad pedagógica, el monopsonismo y su desequilibrio en cuanto a la capacidad de negociación son una realidad muy extendida. Es necesario devolver la palabra a los trabajadores para subsanar consecuencias tan indeseables de los éxitos macroeconómicos como la desigualdad de ingresos y la pérdida de derechos laborales.
In: World development: the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development, Band 30, Heft 8, S. 1461-1476
In this paper, the authors describe the institutional background of Singapore's successful national skills development model. They devise a tentative framework to evaluate national level skills development efforts, and use it to assess the Singapore model. (DSE/DÜI)
Résumé.Comment se peut‐il que partout les employeurs connaissent des pénuries de main‐d'æuvre de plus en plus graves? Pourquoi les salaires n'augmentent‐ils pas dans les économies en expansion? Selon les auteurs, le déclin du pouvoir syndical a permis aux employeurs d'avoir la haute main sur la détermination des salaires et conditions d'emploi, sur un marché du travail monopsonistique. Ils rejettent le modèle de la concurrence parfaite, avec ajustement de l'offre et de la demande, et considèrent que, loin d'être une curiosité pédagogique, celui du monopsone, avec inégalité du rapport de forces, se généralise. Il faut rétablir la capacité d'expression des salariés pour que les bons résultats macroéconomiques ne s'accompagnent d'effets pernicieux, comme les inégalités salariales ou l'affaiblissement des droits des travailleurs.
In today's largely nonunion labor market, the default model used by many economists and policy makers is that of textbook competition. The textbook model suggests a mutual balancing of worker and employer interests and implies that laissez‐faire and deregulation is the appropriate policy norm, but in the 1930s and before, the default model for a nonunion labor market was employer monopsony. There are many reasons to suppose that monopsony should be the default model again. A monopsonistic labor market—one where employers have market power—has a stabilizing effect at the macrolevel. Failure to recognize monopsony thus left macro policy makers surprised by the economic outcomes of the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, monopsony has a dark side in terms of income distribution and the provision by employers of wages and conditions at the microlevel. Laissez‐faire and labor‐market deregulation therefore cannot be the policy norm under monopsony.
In: World development: the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development, Band 30, Heft 8, S. 1461-1476