IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v45y2007i1p55-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Vertical Disintegration and the Disorganization of German Industrial Relations1

Author

Listed:
  • Virginia Doellgast
  • Ian Greer

Abstract

Drawing on case studies from the telecommunications and auto industries, the authors argue that the vertical disintegration of major German employers is contributing to the disorganization of Germany’s dual system of in‐plant and sectoral negotiations. Subcontractors, subsidiaries and temporary agencies often have no collective bargaining institutions or are covered by different firm‐level and sectoral agreements. As core employers move jobs to these firms, they introduce new organizational boundaries across the production chain and disrupt traditional bargaining structures. Worker representatives are developing new campaign approaches and using residual power at large firms to establish representation in new firms and sectors, but these have not been successful at rebuilding co‐ordinated bargaining.

Suggested Citation

  • Virginia Doellgast & Ian Greer, 2007. "Vertical Disintegration and the Disorganization of German Industrial Relations1," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 55-76, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:45:y:2007:i:1:p:55-76
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00602.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00602.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00602.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rehder, Britta, 2003. "Betriebliche Bündnisse für Arbeit in Deutschland: Mitbestimmung und Flächentarif im Wandel," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 48, number 48.
    2. Streeck, Wolfgang, 2001. "The transformation of corporate organization in Europe: An overview," MPIfG Working Paper 01/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    3. Höpner, Martin, 2003. "Wer beherrscht die Unternehmen? Shareholder Value, Managerherrschaft und Mitbestimmung in Deutschland," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 46, number 46.
    4. Hassel, Anke & Rehder, Britta, 2001. "Institutional change in the German wage bargaining system: The role of big companies," MPIfG Working Paper 01/9, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Jürgens, Ulrich, 2004. "Gibt es einen europaspezifischen Entwicklungsweg in der Automobilindustrie?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Knowledge, Production Systems and Work SP III 2004-301, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anke Hassel, 2014. "The Paradox of Liberalization — Understanding Dualism and the Recovery of the German Political Economy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 57-81, March.
    2. Gregory Jackson & Martin Hopner & Antje Kurdelbusch, 2004. "Corporate Governance and Employees in Germany: Changing Linkages, Complementarities, and Tensions," Discussion papers 04008, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Chiara Benassi, 2016. "Liberalization Only at the Margins? Analysing the Growth of Temporary Work in German Core Manufacturing Sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 597-622, September.
    4. Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer & Jörg Heining, 2021. "Labor in the Boardroom," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 669-725.
    5. Anke Hassel, 2014. "Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 6, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    6. Anne Tempel & Peter Walgenbach, 2007. "Global Standardization of Organizational Forms and Management Practices? What New Institutionalism and the Business‐Systems Approach Can Learn from Each Other," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 1-24, January.
    7. Werner Eichhorst, 2015. "The Unexpected Appearance of a New German Model," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 49-69, March.
    8. Anke Hassel, 2011. "The paradox of liberalization – Understanding dualism and the recovery of the German political economy," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 42, European Institute, LSE.
    9. Simon Jäger & Shakked Noy & Benjamin Schoefer, 2022. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 53-80, Fall.
    10. Höpner, Martin & Lutter, Mark, 2014. "One currency and many modes of wage formation: Why the eurozone is too heterogeneous for the euro," MPIfG Discussion Paper 14/14, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    11. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2015. "Pacts for Employment and Competitiveness as a Role Model? Their Effects on Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 9323, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Hassel, Anke & Beyer, Jürgen, 2001. "The effects of convergence: Internationalisation and the changing distribution of net value added in large German firms," MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/7, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    13. Baccaro, Lucio & Howell, Chris, 2017. "Unhinged: Industrial relations liberalization and capitalist instability," MPIfG Discussion Paper 17/19, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    14. William K. Roche & Paul Teague, 2015. "Antecedents of concession bargaining in the Great Recession: evidence from Ireland," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 434-445, November.
    15. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke & Lutz Bellmann, 2013. "The Extent of Collective Bargaining and Workplace Representation: Transitions between States and their Determinants. A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Great Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 182-209, May.
    16. Hilary Bates & Nick Oliver & Matthias Holweg & Michael Lewis, 2004. "Motor vehicle recalls: trends, patterns and emerging issues," Working Papers wp295, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    17. Höpner, Martin & Baccaro, Lucio, 2022. "Das deutsche Wachstumsmodell, 1991-2019," MPIfG Discussion Paper 22/9, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    18. Anke Hassel, 2014. "Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 76, European Institute, LSE.
    19. John T Addison & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke & Lutz Bellmann, 2017. "The demise of a model? The state of collective bargaining and worker representation in Germany," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 38(2), pages 193-234, May.
    20. Miroslav Nedelchev, 2013. "Good Practices in Corporate Governance: One-Size-Fits-All vs. Comply-or-Explain," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 4(6), pages 75-81, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:45:y:2007:i:1:p:55-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.