Contemporary Employers' Organizations

This book argues that employers' organizations are resilient organizations that adapt to changing circumstances by developing new practices. Adaptation has been prompted by changing economic and social contexts, including state interventions and union activities. Contexts vary over time, across countries and world regions. The purpose of the book is to explore these variations and their impacts on employer organization. The book covers the following themes across four book sections: theoretical perspectives on employer collective action; employers' organizations in different types of capitalism; different types of employers' organizations; and international and comparative employer interest representation. Theoretical explorations examining employer power, political preferences, meta-organizing, and ideological foundations are complemented by studies of employers' organization in China, Denmark, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Canada, and the UK. Different types such as regional and international employers' organizations are also examined. The book is one of the few edited volumes to examine employer collective action within work and employment, and is the first since 1984 to consider western and non-western contexts. The book will be of interest to employment relations and sociology of work researchers, scholars, advanced students, and practitioners as it brings new perspectives to an understudied actor in employment relations: employers' organizations.

Leon Gooberman is a Lecturer in Employment Relations at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, UK. Marco Hauptmeier is a Professor of International Human Resource Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, UK.

1. The Adaptation and Resilience of Employers' Organizations Leon Gooberman and Marco Hauptmeier Part I Theoretical Perspectives on Employer Collective Action 2. Employers' Organizations: Sources of Power and Limits to Power Glenn Morgan 3. Meta-organizing Employers: From Beneficial Constraints to Collective Self-discipline? Markus Helfen 4. Facilitating Labour Shedding or Enhancing Labour Supply? An Analysis of German Employer Organizations' Views on Work Incentive Effects of Social Programmes Thomas Paster 5. Culture and Coordinated Industrial Relations Cathie Jo Martin Part II Employers' Organizations in Different Types of Capitalism 6. Employers' Organizations in China: Transmission Belt between Members and State Judith Shuqin Zhu 7. Keeping the State out through Legitimacy: Employers' Organizations in Denmark Christian Lyhne Ibsen and Steen E. Navrbjerg 8. Employers' Associations in Australia Peter Sheldon and Louise Thornthwaite 9. German Employers' Associations and their Strategy of Deliberate Neglect Martin Behrens Part III Different Types of Employers' Organizations 10. Countervailing Power and the Role of State Threats: The Case of Pro-religious Employers' Organizations in Turkey Lisa Ahsen Sezer 11. Representing the Interests of Quebec Employers: The Contribution of Regional Employers' Organizations Mélanie Laroche 12. Employers' Organizations and the Territorial Divergence of Employment Relations in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland Leon Gooberman and Marco Hauptmeier Part IV International and Comparative Employer Interest Representation 13. Comparing Higher Education Employer Organization Geoffrey White and Laurence Hopkins 14. International Employers' Organizations and Public Policy beyond National Boundaries Kevin Farnsworth and Cangheng Liu 15. Beyond Social Dialogue: The Varied Activities of European Employers' Organizations Mona Aranea, Leon Gooberman, Marco Hauptmeier