Financialization, New Investment Funds, and Labour: An International Comparison

The book provides a comprehensive, comparative treatment of the development of New Investment Funds (NIFs)--private equity, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds--and their impact upon labour and employment. Several countries are selected for in-depth treatment with a chapter devoted to each: US, UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Poland, and Japan. The book examines variations in the level and type of fund activity between countries, considers influences upon these variations, and analyses differences in the impact of these funds on labour and employment. This analysis is located in a broader discussion of the nature and development of corporate financialization and comparative capitalism. Financialization has supported the development and growth of these funds, and many aspects of these funds exemplify the process of financialization. Each chapter reports the evidence on the impact of these funds on labour and employment. Case studies conducted by the authors supplement other evidence. Much of the evidence shows that private equity funds can have adverse effects on labour, such as reductions in employment, but there is also evidence of more positive effects in some cases such as employment growth and adoption of high commitment human resource practices. There is much less evidence on the effects of activist HFs and SWFs, with the impact on labour typically being indirect. Between them, the chapters show that variations in national regulation have a significant impact on both the development of fund activities and their effects. With regard to labour effects, employment and labour regulations do not seem to be of prime importance in explaining the level of fund activity, but regulation supporting worker consultation and voice affects the capacity of labour representatives to influence the outcomes of fund activity on labour and employment. Contributors to this volume - Eileen Appelbaum, Senior Economist, the Center For Economic and Policy Research, Washington, Dc. Rosemary Batt, the Alice Hanson Cook Professor of Women and Work, the Industrial And Labor School, Cornell University. Bruno Cattero, Professor of Economic Sociology, the University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Italy. Stefan Dunin-Wasowicz, Economist and Financial Controller, BPI Polska, Poland. Howard Gospel, Professor of Management, King's College, University Of London, and Associate Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford. Jakob Haves, Consultant, Wilke, Maack and Partner (wmp) Consult, Germany. Ewald Engelen, Professor Of Financial Geography, the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Tomas Korpi, Professor of Sociology, the Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Sweden. Katsuyuki Kubo, Professor of Business Economics, the School Of Commerce, Waseda University, Japan. John Murray, Lecturer In Work And Organisational Studies, the University of Sydney Business School, Australia. Andrew Pendleton, Professor of Human Resource Management, the University Of York Management School. Perceval Pradelle, Consultant. Jae Eun Lee, Doctoral Student in Human Resource Management, Cornell University. Mark Westcott, Senior Lecturer in Work and Organisational Studies, the University Of Sydney Business School, Australia. Sigurt Vitols, Head of Project Group, Modes Of Economic Governance, the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin Fur Sozialforshung, Berlin, Germany and Associate Researcher, European Trade Union Institute, Brussels, Belgium. Peter Wilke, Managing Director, Wilke, Maack And Partner wmp Consult, Germany.