The observed gender pay gap seemingly constitutes evidence of inequality in the labour market. The persistence of this gap has generated considerable debate over the extent to which it reflects discrimination and the extent which it can be explained by productivity-related characteristics. However, measurement of wage `discrimination' seems inadequate because it implicitly requires an assumption that the wage gap arising from differences in individual characteristics are distinct from those arising from differential remuneration of those characteristics. Therefore the purpose of this dissertation is to explore male-female wage differentials, with particular concern to measuring wage `discrimination'. This dissertation sets out to compare the earnings differentials between full-time working women and men in Britain and Japan and the reasons for those differences. These two countries make an interesting contrast. In both countries, women have continued to earn considerably less than men, but the wage gap among full-time workers is much bigger in Japan than in the Britain. In Japan seniority and personal appraisals are much more important than job content in determining wages, whereas in Britain earnings are more closely related to the content of the job. Because in Japan there are limited microdata available, the focus was made on using UK data - Labour Force Survey (LFS) and National Child Development Studies (NCDS) to highlight inequalities and identify where these inequalities are located. I had to rely on the published study of Nakata (1997) and made comparisons with Britain by constructing a model which is as similar as possible to that used by Nakata (1997), based on data from the British LFS. The main findings are that: (1) More than half of the Japanese female-male wage gap (48% of male wages) is explained by differences in individual characteristics (27%) rather than differences in labour market return (21%). By contrast, almost all the gender pay gap in Britain is due to differential rewards between men and women. (2) Wage `discrimination' is responsible for about 12% to 23% of male wages in Britain and 21% in Japan. In both countries, the unexplained gap is mainly due to gender differences in reward for age (or total work experience in the UK context). (3) Occupation-related factors including occupational segregation are also the main factors in unequal pay in Britain. The thesis draws out the value of analysis based on nationally representative microdata and makes some progress in measuring wage `discrimination' for analyses of British gender wage differentials. However, detailed analysis for Japan was not carried out because of the paucity of microdata in Japan. This dissertation emphasizes the importance of the release of microdata and the need for detailed information in surveys, to enable scholars to conduct detailed investigations of gender inequalities in Japan.

Based on the theories in institutionalism, social psychology and culture, this research has developed a theoretical model to determine the influence of the Chinese employment related institutions upon employees’ attitudes towards employment process. In terms of recruitment, dismissal/redundancy, wage setting, promotion, welfare and workplace rights protection, the research has qualitatively analyzed two main Chinese employment-related institutions—the social and working identity systems. Between different social and working identity holders in the Chinese state-owned or state-holding enterprises, the research has quantitatively analyzed the significant differences of employees’ attitudes towards the employment process. With the use of the research model, the influences of the Chinese employment-related institutions on employees’ attitudes have been determined. The research has found that the Chinese employment-related institutions set employees’ social and working identities as qualifications or standards for the employment process in state-owned/holding enterprises, causing considerable positional differences between different social and working identity holders. The positional differences cause the differences of experiences and actions between these employees, consequently resulting in significant attitudinal differences towards the employment process between them. This research mainly has the following original contributions. First, it contributes to the theory development in the field of human resource management, which fills the gap between institutionalism and social psychology. Second, the research academically contributes to the insight into the Chinese employment-related institutions and their influences upon the Chinese employees in the arenas of Chinese institutions, human resource management and industrial relations. Finally, it can guide the policies and practices of human resource management in practice. In particular, the research findings can be valuable references to the present Chinese institutional reforms in term of minimizing the positional and benefit gaps between different social and working identity holders.

Studies of the minimum wage, particularly of its impact on the labour market, have raised interesting but contentious questions among researchers and policymakers alike. There have been a number of studies which examine the impact of the National Minimum Wage on the UK labour market, but little has been done to examine the effects of the minimum wage on non-wage benefits. There is also a paucity of studies that examine the effects of the minimum wage on migrant workers. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the effects of the minimum wage on the non-wage benefits of migrant workers. Therefore three important and interrelated issues are examined in theoretical and empirical contexts: (i) the effects of the minimum wage on a wide range of non-wage benefits, (ii) the effects of the minimum wage on migration, and (iii) the effects of the minimum wage on the non-wage benefits of migrant workers. It is argued that to some extent the minimum wage has had adverse effects on both non-wage benefits and migrant workers. Primary and secondary research has been conducted by applying mainly positivist quantitative methodology, complemented by a qualitative approach (i.e. a number of interviews) to examine the effects of the minimum wage on the non-wage benefits of migrant workers. The secondary data has been collected from three major labour surveys in the UK: the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS), and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The primary data has been collected through a face-to-face questionnaire survey of 200 London-based migrants who have low-paid, low-skilled jobs. The secondary data is analysed using Difference-in-Difference (DID) analysis, while the primary data is analysed through regression analysis, the Pearson’s Chi-squared coefficient, descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. It is shown through regression that the minimum wage is likely to create adverse effects in the UK labour market, particularly for migrant workers. It was found that the minimum wage has significant negative influences on migrants’ access to numerous valuable non-wage benefits, such as training, holiday pay, paid sick leave and pension schemes. Accommodation/housing, which is a non-wage benefit pertinent to the minimum wage, was also found to be an excuse for not paying statutory wages. Migrants who work in the minimum wage sectors are also less likely to receive health/life insurance. Nevertheless, DID analysis overall shows no evidence that the minimum wage reduces the provision of non-wage benefits. The thesis conclusion addresses the implications of these findings for National Minimum Wage policy, in particular to encourage policymakers to consider the minimum wage’s adverse effects on the UK labour market. The thesis makes some recommendations for National Minimum Wage policy in relation to both non-wage benefits and migrant workers.

This thesis examines change in the organizational-level institution of pay setting in crossnational and cross-sectoral diverse contexts. The purpose of the research is twofold. The first is to understand the actors' perceptions of change in the institution of pay setting. The second is to identify the actual institutional change undertaken and to analyze three key 'episodes' on the path of institutional change: the pressures for change, the organizationallevel translation of these pressures, and the nature of the implemented institutional change. To analyze the actors' perceptions of institutional change a research-specific actor-centred lens that draws on rational choice, cultural/sociological and historical institutionalism was formulated, which served to supplement the employment relations literature that informed the understanding of the institution of pay setting. This lens recognizes that actors are driven by rational and normative considerations, as well as by organizational legacies and the embedding institutional context in which they operate. To investigate the extent to which the organizational-level institution of pay setting changed, or remained stable, a specific framework was devised to illuminate key features of the institution. And to examine the key episodes en-route to institutional change, theories of change proposed by interdisciplinary institutionalist scholars were adopted and tailored to the theoretical and methodological considerations of the research undertaken. The analysis is based on qualitative data collected from actors on either side of the employment relationship in case-studies selected from the British, German and Norwegian banking, metalworking and public hospital sectors. The selection of countries and sectors was motivated by extending cross-national and cross-sectoral institutional diversity. The selection of organizations was driven by the potential insights each case-study can shed on organizational-level change in the institution of pay setting. Three conclusions emerged from this research. Firstly, the data reveal that underlying the actors' acceptance of, or resistance to, institutional change were rational and normative considerations, as well as the actors' previous experiences. Secondly, the findings suggest that to comprehend the manner in which pressures for change were translated at the organizational-level the actors' embedding context needs to be taken into account. Thirdly, the findings bring to light that the organizational-level institution of pay setting does not exist in either a state of inertia or upheaval. Rather, institutional change is much more nuanced. On the one hand, the finding that actors used established institutions to convey institutional change meant that change was often constituted by considerable continuation with the past. On the other hand, the finding that actors responded to the pressures for change by increasing, or decreasing, pay and applying the institution of pay setting towards new goals, brought to light that institutional change can occur under the guise of (considerable) institutional stability.

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The thesis explores Human Resources in terms of its current role and responsibilities. It investigates whether or not the move from the title of the function from Personnel to Human Resources is an indication of a change of role. Perceptions of how HR sees itself and how it is seen by the other departments in the organisation have been elIcited in order to clarify the current situation. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews, focus groups and a postal questionnaire. In all, 232 interviews were held with the staff of five organisations, 42 HR staff took part in three focus groups, and self-response questionnaires were posted to 1,230 employees in 21 companies questionnaires and 206 responses were received. As the main thrust of the research was qualitative, the thesis does not suggest that the findings can be generalised. What can be said, however, is that the views of the 480 individuals who provided information concerning their HR department leans towards the negative. The central findings take the form of two paradoxes - firstly, while the other departments have firm views of what the role and responsibilities of their HR department are, they also maintain that they know nothing about their HR department and its services, and secondly, while the other departments state that their HR department is very necessary to the finn's wellbeing, they also declare that the firm woul~ manage just as well if the entire HR department were outsourced. These ne¥atIve perceptions that staff hold of their HR department produce a demoralising effect on an HR department's role and relationships within its organisation. It w?uld .seem that a repositioning of HR within its organisation is necessary so that the fu~ctlOn can be viewed as it wishes to be seen - as an innovate, value-adding, proactI.ve and important part of the organisation, providing services and advice app:eclated at all levels from the Board of Directors down to the shop t100r or its eqUivalent.

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