IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v56y2025i4p279-290.html

Vertical New Knowledge Transfer and the Revival of Multi‐Employer Collective Bargaining

Author

Listed:
  • Søren Kaj Andersen
  • Chris F. Wright

Abstract

This paper addresses the puzzle of how and why multi‐employer bargaining has revived as a policy idea given the apparent dominance of neoliberalism. Multi‐employer bargaining has emerged as a solution to problems caused by failed neoliberal policies. These solutions have been generated and disseminated through a process of vertical ‘new knowledge’ transfer between international, regional and national governance levels, which local actors have mobilised to influence policy debates and outcomes. We develop these arguments using case studies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's changing position on collective bargaining, the European Union Minimum Wage Directive 2022 that encouraged multi‐employer bargaining, and bargaining reforms implemented in 2022–24 in Australia. We contribute insights to power resource theory regarding how new knowledge as a distinct form of ideational power is operationalised vertically across different governance levels to resolve localised labour problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Søren Kaj Andersen & Chris F. Wright, 2025. "Vertical New Knowledge Transfer and the Revival of Multi‐Employer Collective Bargaining," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 279-290, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:56:y:2025:i:4:p:279-290
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12465
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12465?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. Glenn Morgan & Marco Hauptmeier, 2021. "The Social Organization of Ideas in Employment Relations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 773-797, May.
    2. Chris F. Wright & William Brown, 2014. "From Center Stage To Bit Player: Trade Unions And The British Economy," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 59(04), pages 1-20.
    3. Martin B. Carstensen & Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Vivien A. Schmidt, 2022. "Ideas and power in employment relations studies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 3-21, January.
    4. John L. Campbell & Ove K. Pedersen, 2014. "Knowledge Regimes and the National Origins of Policy Ideas [The National Origins of Policy Ideas: Knowledge Regimes in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    5. Hartlapp, Miriam, 2009. "Learning about policy learning. Reflections on the European Employment Strategy," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 13, November.
    6. Maarten Keune & Philippe Pochet, 2023. "The revival of Social Europe: is this time different?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(2), pages 173-183, May.
    7. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107053168.
    8. Rae Cooper & Bradon Ellem, 2008. "The Neoliberal State, Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining in Australia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 532-554, September.
    9. Søren Kaj Andersen & Chris F Wright & Russell D Lansbury, 2023. "Defining the problem of low wage growth in Australia and Denmark: From the actors’ perspectives," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(2), pages 177-194, June.
    10. Chris F. Wright & Colm McLaughlin, 2021. "Trade Union Legitimacy and Legitimation Politics in Australia and New Zealand," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 338-369, July.
    11. Jens Arnholtz & Bjarke Refslund, 2024. "A power resource theory for contemporary capitalism: Why power and workers still matter," Stato e mercato, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 13-38.
    12. Mark Bray, 1996. "The Limits of Enterprise Autonomy: Enterprise Bargaining in the Australian Domestic Airline Industry," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 7(1), pages 132-164, June.
    13. David Benson & Andrew Jordan, 2011. "What Have We Learned from Policy Transfer Research? Dolowitz and Marsh Revisited," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 9(3), pages 366-378, September.
    14. John L. Campbell & Ove K. Pedersen, 2014. "The National Origins of Policy Ideas: Knowledge Regimes in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10265, December.
    15. Ronald Janssen, 2019. "The revised OECD Jobs Strategy and labour market flexibility: a double-handed narrative," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(2), pages 221-227, May.
    16. Colm McLaughlin & Chris F. Wright, 2018. "The Role of Ideas in Understanding Industrial Relations Policy Change in Liberal Market Economies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 568-610, October.
    17. Stephen McBride & James Watson, 2019. "Reviewing the 2018 OECD Jobs Strategy – anything new under the sun?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(2), pages 149-163, May.
    18. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107679566.
    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. Søren Kaj Andersen & Chris F Wright & Russell D Lansbury, 2023. "Defining the problem of low wage growth in Australia and Denmark: From the actors’ perspectives," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(2), pages 177-194, June.
    2. Martin B. Carstensen & Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Vivien A. Schmidt, 2022. "Ideas and power in employment relations studies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 3-21, January.
    3. Colm McLaughlin & Chris F. Wright, 2018. "The Role of Ideas in Understanding Industrial Relations Policy Change in Liberal Market Economies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 568-610, October.
    4. Martin B. Carstensen & Patrick Emmenegger & Cecilia Ivardi, 2026. "Problems and Solutions in the Knowledge Economy: Ideational Power in Slow‐Burning Crises," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 575-588, April.
    5. Saskia Boumans, 2022. "Neoliberalisation of industrial relations: The ideational development of Dutch employers’ organisations between 1976 and 2019," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1610-1631, November.
    6. Igor Guardiancich & Eugenio Borgognoni & Igor Tkalec, 2026. "Unemployment Benefits in the EU: The Commission's Approach," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 533-558, March.
    7. Caleb Goods & Alex Veen & Tom Barratt & Brett Smith, 2024. "Power resources for disempowered workers? Re‐conceptualizing the power and potential of consumers in app‐based food delivery," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 107-131, April.
    8. Andrew DA Smith & Kevin D Tennent, 2025. "The employee representation plan movement in the United States 1913–1935: The attempted legitimation of novel organizational forms," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 46(4), pages 1135-1163, November.
    9. Chris F. WRIGHT, 2024. "Multi‐employer collective bargaining in liberal market economies: Reasons for survival and reinvigoration," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 163(4), pages 677-691, December.
    10. Valeria Pulignano & Marco Hauptmeier & Dorien Frans, 2023. "Determinants of union strategies towards the twin digital and green transitions in the German and Belgian automotive industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(1), pages 121-138, February.
    11. Andrea Signoretti & Adrian Wilkinson, 2025. "Frames of Reference: Dynamics of Change and Frame Misalignment Between Employers and Unions," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 214-225, May.
    12. Bengtsson, Erik, 2023. "The Changing Meaning of the Wage Bargaining Round in Sweden since the 1960s: A Contextual Approach to Shifts in Industrial Relations," Lund Papers in Economic History 245, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    13. Martin Behrens & Andreas Pekarek, 2023. "Delivering the goods? German industrial relations institutions during the COVID‐19 crisis," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 126-144, April.
    14. Alex Veen & Tom Barratt & Caleb Goods & Marian Baird, 2024. "Accidental flexicurity or workfare? Navigating ride-share work and Australia’s welfare system," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(3), pages 766-793, August.
    15. Virginia Doellgast & Matthew Bidwell & Alexander J. S. Colvin, 2021. "New Directions in Employment Relations Theory: Understanding Fragmentation, Identity, and Legitimacy," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 555-579, May.
    16. John Buchanan & Damian Oliver, 2016. "‘Fair Work’ and the Modernization of Australian Labour Standards: A Case of Institutional Plasticity Entrenching Deepening Wage Inequality," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 790-814, December.
    17. Chris Howell, 2021. "Rethinking the Role of the State in Employment Relations for a Neoliberal Era," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 739-772, May.
    18. 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.
    19. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz & Martha Prevezer, 2015. "Elites, Thickets and Institutions: French Resistance versus German Adaptation to Economic Change, 1945-2015," Working Papers 63, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    20. Leone Leonida & Marianna Marra & Sergio Scicchitano & Antonio Giangreco & Marco Biagetti, 2020. "Estimating the Wage Premium to Supervision for Middle Managers in Different Contexts: Evidence from Germany and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1004-1026, December.

    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:indrel:v:56:y:2025:i:4:p:279-290. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    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.