IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/84540.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Between a rock and a hard place: social partners and reforms in the wage- setting system in Greece under austerity

Author

Listed:
  • Voskeritsian, Horen
  • Veliziotis, Michail
  • Kapotas, Panos
  • Kornelakis, Andreas

Abstract

The paper focuses on the reforms in the wage-setting system in Greece in the context of a severe recession and against the backdrop of EU bailout agreements.The analysis reveals that the reforms are also contested among key actors, and that the fault lines between social partners are not fully consistent with the notion of a binary pro-reform (from business associations) vs. anti-reform stance (from labour associations). Instead, our interview data expose hitherto hidden fractures in the employers’ camp. Employers’ representatives express –in varying degrees– their scepticism towards the efficacy of the institutional changes and generally towards technocratic solutions. More broadly this analysis reflects on the contested and controversial nature of the policy reforms on wage setting, for which there is no consensus either in the academic or policy literature, and delves deeper into the views and perspectives of key actors on the efficacy and consequences of the main institutional changes in wage setting

Suggested Citation

  • Voskeritsian, Horen & Veliziotis, Michail & Kapotas, Panos & Kornelakis, Andreas, 2017. "Between a rock and a hard place: social partners and reforms in the wage- setting system in Greece under austerity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84540, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:84540
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84540/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefaan Decramer & Catherine Fuss & Jozef Konings, 2016. "How Do Exporters React to Changes in Cost Competitiveness?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(10), pages 1558-1583, October.
    2. Agell, Jonas, 1999. "On the Benefits from Rigid Labour Markets: Norms, Market Failures, and Social Insurance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(453), pages 143-164, February.
    3. Olivier Blanchard & Florence Jaumotte & Prakash Loungani, 2014. "Labor market policies and IMF advice in advanced economies during the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Baccaro, Lucio & Rei, Diego, 2007. "Institutional Determinants of Unemployment in OECD Countries: Does the Deregulatory View Hold Water?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 527-569, July.
    5. Fagerberg, Jan, 1996. "Technology and Competitiveness," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 39-51, Autumn.
    6. Fagerberg, Jan, 1988. "International Competitiveness," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(391), pages 355-374, June.
    7. Howell David R. & Baker Dean & Glyn Andrew & Schmitt John, 2007. "Are Protective Labor Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment? A Critical Review of the Evidence," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-73, May.
    8. James S. Mosher & David M. Trubek, 2003. "Alternative Approaches to Governance in the EU: EU Social Policy and the European Employment Strategy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 63-88, March.
    9. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Knell, Mark, 2007. "The Competitiveness of Nations: Why Some Countries Prosper While Others Fall Behind," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1595-1620, October.
    10. Fagerberg, Jan, 1988. "International Competitiveness," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(391), pages 355-374, June.
    11. Rebekka Christopoulou & Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2014. "The Greek Public Sector Wage Premium before the Crisis: Size, Selection and Relative Valuation of Characteristics," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 579-602, September.
    12. Joan Daouli & Michael Demoussis & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Ioannis Laliotis, 2013. "Firm-Level Collective Bargaining and Wages in G reece: A Quantile Decomposition Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 80-103, March.
    13. Tito Boeri & Jan van Ours, 2013. "The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets: Second Edition," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10142.
    14. Toke Aidt & Zafiris Tzannatos, 2002. "Unions and Collective Bargaining : Economic Effects in a Global Environment," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15241, April.
    15. Andreas Kornelakis, 2016. "Inclusion or Dualization? The Political Economy of Employment Relations in Italian and Greek Telecommunications," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(2), pages 385-408, June.
    16. Berg, Birgitta & Kilvits, Kaarel & Tombak, Mihkel, . "Technology Policyfor Improving Competitiveness of Estonian Industries," ETLA C, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, number 73.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hatgioannides, John & Karanassou, Marika & Sala, Hector & Karanasos, Menelaos G. & Koutroumpis, Panagiotis, 2017. "The legacy of a fractured Eurozone: the Greek Dra(ch)ma," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84542, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Horen Voskeritsian & Andreas Kornelakis & Panos Kapotas & Michail Veliziotis, 2022. "United we stand? Marketization, institutional change and employers’ associations in crisis," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 685-704, May.

    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. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.
    2. Azzopardi, Ernest & Nash, Robert, 2013. "A critical evaluation of importance–performance analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 222-233.
    3. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Global Dynamics, Capabilities and the Crisis," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 83-106, Springer.
    4. Baldwin, John & Lin, Zhengxi, 2002. "Impediments to advanced technology adoption for Canadian manufacturers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Padoan, Pier Carlo, 1998. "Trade, knowledge accumulation and diffusion: A sectoral perspective1," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 349-372, September.
    6. Lee, Keun & Malerba, Franco, 2017. "Catch-up cycles and changes in industrial leadership:Windows of opportunity and responses of firms and countries in the evolution of sectoral systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 338-351.
    7. Fagerberg , Jan & Srholec , Martin, 2015. "Capabilities, Competitiveness, Nations," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/2, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Walz, Rainer & Helfrich, Nicki & Enzmann, Alexander, 2009. "A system dynamics approach for modelling a lead-market-based export potential," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S3/2009, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    9. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Knell, Mark, 2007. "The Competitiveness of Nations: Why Some Countries Prosper While Others Fall Behind," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1595-1620, October.
    10. Robert VERGEER & Alfred KLEINKNECHT, 2014. "Do labour market reforms reduce labour productivity growth? A panel data analysis of 20 OECD countries (1960–2004)," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(3), pages 365-393, September.
    11. Ana Urraca Ruiz & C. Frederico Rocha, 2011. "On the relations between technological opportunity, specialization and growth," Working Papers 13-2011, Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto.
    12. Janno Reiljan & Maria Hinrikus & Anneli Ivanov, 2000. "Key Issues In Defining And Analysing The Competitiveness Of A Country," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 1, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    13. Marco Grazzi & Nanditha Mathew & Daniele Moschella, 2021. "Making one’s own way: jumping ahead in the capability space and exporting among Indian firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 931-957, July.
    14. Ray Barrell & Dirk Willem te Velde, 2002. "European Integration and Manufactures Import Demand: An Empirical Investigation of Ten European Countries," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 3(3), pages 263-293, August.
    15. Yap, Josef T., 2004. "A Note on the Competitiveness Debate," Discussion Papers DP 2004-39, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    16. Enno Schröder, 2015. "Eurozone Imbalances: Measuring the Contribution of Expenditure Switching and Expenditure Volumes 1990-2013," Working Papers 1508, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2015.
    17. Jorge Nogueira de Paiva Britto & Leonardo Costa Ribeiro & Lucas Teixeira Araújo & Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque, 2019. "Patent citations, knowledge flows and catching-up: evidences of different national experiences for the period 1982-2006," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG 606, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    18. Lin, Zhengxi & Baldwin, John R., 2001. "Entraves a l'adoption des technologies de pointe pour les fabricants canadiens," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2001173f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    19. Castellacci, Fulvio, 2008. "Innovation and the competitiveness of industries: comparing the mainstream and the evolutionary approaches," MPRA Paper 27523, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Keil, Sascha, 2024. "Assessing the role of non-price factors: Shedding new light on the European competitiveness puzzle," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ehl:lserod:84540. 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: LSERO Manager (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.