Advancing technology has caused rapid and dramatic changes in the world of work. Labour law systems grounded in the industrial era, with their emphasis on collective bargaining, are not suitable in today’s world of work. Throughout the world, the ‘atypical employee’ is replacing the standard or typical employee whose terms and conditions of employment were generally regulated by collective agreements. Atypical employee’s terms and conditions of employment generally are not regulated by collective agreements. World– wide trends in the decentralisation of collective bargaining, decollectivisation and individualisation of the employment relationship have contributed to a decline in trade union power and influence. Consequently the number of workers covered by collective agreements has decreased. Collective bargaining has been rendered less effective because of the changing the world of work. The South African labour law system places a huge emphasis on collective bargaining, particularly at industry level, for the protection of employee interests. Given these trends in the changing world of work, the appropriateness of this emphasis on industry or central level collective bargaining is questioned. The vacuum left by the inadequacy and inability of trade unions to protect employee interests in a comprehensive manner by means of collective bargaining, needs to be addressed. The following alternative means of protecting employee interests are considered: (i) The socialisation of the law of contract; (ii) the interpretation given to the constitutional right to fair labour practices; and (iii) the role of good corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. These alternative means of addressing legitimate employee interests could play a role in filling the vacuum created by trade union decline. The South African law of contract is capable of bridging the gap between law and justice by the application of the concepts of good faith and public policy, so that employment contracts may take cognisance of employee interests despite the imbalance of power between employer and employee. The protection of worker interests by means of the constitutional right to fair labour practices depends on the judge’s interpretation of what is fair. Implementation of good corporate governance codes can be influential in protecting and promoting employee interests. / Thesis (LLD (Mercantile Law))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

In this dissertation, I develop and empirically test a comparison of the private versus public strategies presidents use to gain support and passage of their policy agendas. By focusing on presidential influence on policy outcomes in Congress, I can determine which form of presidential leadership - going public or using private bargaining or both - may prove most effective in shaping policies to suit the administration's political interests, given the context in Congress. This allows for an assessment of Neustadt's (1990) classic private bargaining presidency and Kernell's (1997) public presidency to show that both may be compatible and may even work in combination in order for presidents to pass their policy agendas under varying political circumstances in Congress.Original data is collected from Statements of Administration Policy to examine private presidential rhetoric, and additional data is collected from the yearly editions of Congressional Quarterly Almanac to assess the effects of public presidential rhetoric. I test my hypotheses with this new collection of data using logistic regressions, as well as complimentary case studies of No Child Left Behind, immigration reform, and the Andean Trade Preference Act. The broader implications of this study include: systematic assessments of presidential influence on Congress; indentifying a broader view of presidential leadership to better fit empirical observations; and incorporating inter-branch influences in Congressional behavior.

<p>This dissertation consists of two essays on household portfolio choice. The first essay is entitled 'Household Portfolio Choice and Retirement'. In this first essay, I empirically examine the portfolio decisions of households as they transition into retirement. I document a novel stylized fact: holding household characteristics constant, singles maintain a relatively constant share of risky assets in their financial portfolios as they transition into retirement. On the other hand, couples decrease their share of risky assets significantly. I analyze this difference in behavior, and show that it is not driven by retirement-related background risks for couples relative to singles. Instead, I show that the heterogeneity within couples can be explained by the within-couple difference in spouses' individual risk aversion levels, and that the results are consistent with a net increase in couples' effective household-level risk aversion after retirement. Further, exploiting heterogeneity in couples' relative retirement dates, I show that husbands' and wives' respective retirement events are associated with very different (opposite-signed) persistent effects on the risky share of couples' portfolios. Moreover, I show that the relative magnitude of these persistent effects is consistent with the importance of each spouse's labor income within the household before retirement. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the outcome of a household bargaining game in which wives demand a smaller share of risky assets than their husbands, with each spouse losing some bargaining power after retiring.</p><p>In the second essay, entitled 'Household Bargaining and Asset Allocation', we empirically examine the effect of intra-household bargaining on household portfolio choice over the life cycle. We find that fluctuations in the distribution of intra-household bargaining power are associated with significant asset allocation shifts between risky and comparatively safer asset classes in households' portfolios. Our results are robust to alternative risky asset definitions, including investments in stocks, real estate, and holdings in private business, as well as to alternative control specifications. We find that the implied effect of intra-household bargaining is economically large in magnitude, with changes in bargaining power driving within-household variation in risky asset shares comparable to changes in labor income and wealth over the life cycle.</p> / Dissertation

Set against a background of technological change, national bargaining and union merger, this thesis considers the impact of a changing structural, economic and political climate on the resilience of national pay bargaining within general print, a little documented but important section of the economy. It seeks to examine contemporary workplace industrial relations where, against national trends, national bargaining has been resilient. It is in the light of there being a long association with strong, regulatory unionism within the sector that this study seeks to explore the reality of workplace industrial relations under national bargaining. There has been a wealth of theoretical and empirical data produced on the background to the wider debate on the declining influence of multi-employer bargaining across the UK economy. However, little work has been committed to the general printing sector that investigates why, in the face of fundamental changes to industrial relations practice, the national agreement for this sector appears to have continued relatively unscathed. The thesis draws on the experience of twelve branches with respect to the impact of the national agreement; three case studies in general print sector companies located in the South West, Humberside and Anglia regions; and on documentary evidence and participant observation. Analysis of the thesis was informed by classical and contemporary writers on industrial relations. The thesis finds a shift from traditional adversarial approaches to partnership in national agreement negotiations. The thesis reveals that at the workplace level, the chapel structure remains intact with its traditional, hierarchal structure and the accompanying issues of gender segregation and worker exclusion remaining firmly embedded within chapels. Behind this appearance of chapel strength an air of apathy and poor organisation impacts on union activity and local bargaining. The thesis concludes by critiquing shifts away from traditional bargaining and questions the state of workplace organisation with changes in union structure. Importantly, the thesis presents data on the state of collective bargaining in the sector, and in particular identifies a shift from the traditional adversarial approach to partnership in the national agreement; it also identifies the difference in the image and reality of workplace organisation in the sector where behind the appearance of chapel strength lies an air of apathy and poor organisation that ultimately impacts on chapel activity and local bargaining. Using Kelly’s model for union renewal the thesis assesses the level of union activity and considers the likelihood of increased union activity in the workplace in the general print sector.

This thesis contains three essays related to fixed investment and crude oil. The first essay examines the implications of building a cross-border oil infrastructure project within the context of the bargaining problem (the Nash bargaining solution, and the alternating offer bargain of Rubinstein). We examine the viability of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, which is employed as a case study - for the multinational corporation, and the three host countries (Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia) by examining the profitability of the project for each partner with two different bargaining formulations (simultaneous and sequential bargaining). The findings suggest that the project is feasible for the partners when the transit charge is greater than $3 per barrel (this is the Break-Even charge at which the project produces a zero total surplus); but for a tariff charge higher than this rate, the project generates returns for each participant greater than his outside option. Furthermore, the outcomes show how with bargaining over discounted flows, each bargaining scenario results in a different total surplus. Thus, the participants’ discount rates, their bargaining orders, and their outside options are the determinants of the gross payoffs they receive over the life of the project. The second essay examines the effect of oil abundance on domestic investment in 22 oil-exporting non-OECD countries over the period 1996-2010. Employing static and dynamic panel estimators, the oil impact is investigated in light of other investment determinants which reflect government policies including output growth, inflation, the exchange rate, and financial and openness factors. Estimation results indicate that oil abundance exerts an adverse effect on gross domestic investment in these countries, implying the necessity of improving institutional quality and oil management polices to better exploit oil revenues and direct them towards enhancing domestic investment, thereby sustained economic growth in these countries. The third essay examines the effect of the oil price and oil price volatility on domestic fixed investment in a group of oil-importing OECD countries from 1970 to 2012 within the framework of the production function. Estimation results indicate that there is a long run relationship running from oil prices and the other control variables (output, trade, inflation, and the exchange rate) to investment where the long run coefficient on the oil price is negative and significant, but the short run coefficient on oil prices is insignificant. Thus, the outcomes of this study indicate that high oil prices are contributing to investment decline, which affirms the importance of adopting long run energy policies that might lessen investment reliance on non-renewable energy sources.

Resumé Das Ziel dieser Diplomarbeit war die Zusammenfassung der bestehenden Rechtsregelung von dem Tarifvertrag und zugleich die Entwicklung der Rechtsregelung von den Tarifverträgen. Ich habe gleichzeitig auf die bestehende Rechtsregelung des Tarifvertrags hingewiesen, wie diese Regelung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland geregelt ist. In den ersten Teil meiner Arbeit habe ich mich mit der historischen Entwicklung von dem Kollektivarbeitsrecht zu der Analyse der bestehenden Rechtsregelung befasst. Der nächste Punkt war die Verankerung des Kollektivarbeitsrechts in der tschechischen Rechtsordnung, die von dem europäischen Recht und von den internationalen Verträgen, durch die die Tschechische Republik in diesem Gebiet gebunden ist, beeinflusst wird. Ich habe mich weiter mit dem einsamen Begriff von dem Tarifvertrag und mit den Begriffen befasst, die mit den Tarifvertrag zusammenhängen. Es geht vor allem über die Begriffe wie die Subjekte von den Tarifverträgen, was der Inhalt von Tarifvertrag sein kann, welche die gesetzliche Voraussetzungen für die Gültigkeit und Wirksamkeit des Tarifvertrags sind, die Speicherung des Tarifvertrags und die Bekanntmachung mit dem Inhalt der geschlossenen Tarifverträge. Am Schluss habe ich die Bedeutung der Tarifverträge für den heutigen Arbeitsmarkt versucht...

Title: Crisis Communication Objectives: To highlight the significance of the crisis communication, led by the Police of the Czech Republic as one of the fundamental components of the Integrated Rescue System. The second aim is to clarify what the definition "crisis communication" means and its use in negotiation with the person demonstrating suicidal intentions. Methods: Theoretical thesis, therefore, data will be collected from literature, laws, regulations and internet resources and the personal experience provided by the police negotiator Jiří Basl as well. Results: There was the crisis communication and the crisis negotiation defined. Police case analysis with the person demonstrating suicidal intentions, and a description of the police bargaining in practice. Keywords: Crisis, communication, negotiator, negotiation, suicide.

M.A. / This research examines bargaining councils, the industrial level collective bargaining agents created by the new Labour Relations Act. This study contributes towards filling a gap not only in information that is lacking on bargaining councils, but also attempts to understand their dispute settlement role more fully. Two surveys were conducted, one, the content analysis of the constitutions of councils, and, the second, a questionnaire administered to bargaining councils, which particularly looked at their dispute work. Initial survey findings were qualified and extended through an investigation of a single council, the Clothing Industry Bargaining Council (Northern Areas). Bargaining councils place more emphasis on dispute settlement than industrial councils, and a particular difference between the two types of councils, relates to the potential role of bargaining councils to conduct arbitration. The level of accreditation may be linked to the union that is party to it. Further, a bargaining council’s ability to successfully resolve cases is dependent on clearly delineated procedures for settlement, the establishment of key relationships within the council, and, the accumulation of financial reserves. Importantly, the age of a bargaining council allows for these features to develop over time. The success of individual councils has overall benefits for labour relations in South Africa. Therefore, the formation of bargaining councils needs to be encouraged in sectors where, at present, they do not exist. Moreover, established councils should increasingly apply for accreditation for conciliation, and especially arbitration, where they are not accredited. This research modifies our understanding of councils by providing an indication of their importance in the current industrial relations dispensation, through an appreciation of the role of bargaining councils in dispute settlement. / Prof. P. Alexander

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Wilson Aparecido Costa de Amorim.pdf: 6966077 bytes, checksum: 22589f51488259bc373db9c0d6c30b80 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1992-12-04 / This study is about the collective bargaining at the banking sector of São Paulo state during the period 1979/1985. The concept of the collective bargaining is understood as a part of the labor relationship, where social, economic, politica1 and technological factors interact, as described in DUNLOP's' definition. In this system, under a particular context, the so called actors take part (workers, employees, government, and their respective organizations. By this sense we tried describe the collective bargaining context, the process of bargaining between the actors and their respective movements, and to define how these collective bargaining were structured. Before studding the bargaining at the banking sector we researched the collective bargaining during the period 1979/1985. We identified at this period important transformations like the growth of the union's power, as well as of direct bargaining between capital and labor, but weak evolution on the labor agreements. We studied the banking sector evolution after 1964 then described its employees union organization behavior. Studding the worker union organization from São Paulo, we identified worker's union at the capital and the Federation of state as the bargainers against the employees. After this, we analyzed how the co11ective bargaining with. the banks happened. At these bargaining we found a movement,bf centralization in their structures, and identified that the wage question was the main, almost the on1y one bargaining object, and finally we found bargaining that were concluded without labor's court decisions. At the end, we compared the banking sector collective bargaining and the overview of the other sectors emphasizing their results, process and structure / Esta dissertação se ocupa do estudo das negociações coletivas do setor bancário paulista no período 1979/1985. Para isto consideramos as negociações coletivas inseridas no sistema de relações trabalhistas, e como campo onde interagem forças sociais, econômicas, políticas e tecnológicas, conforme definição de DUNLOP. Deste sistema, mediante um determinado contexto tomam parte os seus atores (trabalhadores, patrões, governo e suas respectivas organizações). Sob esta ideia procuramos descrever o contexto das negociações coletivas, o processo de barganha travado entre os atores e seus respectivos movimentos, além de caracterizar como estas negociações se estruturam. Para melhor situar a negociação coletiva dos bancários paulistas acompanhamos inicialmente o quadro geral das negociações coletivas do período. O quadro aí identificado foi de transformações com o revigoramento da ação sindical, valorização do entendimento direto entre capital e trabalho, mas pouca evolução nos acordos coletivos. Dentro do setor bancário estudamos a sua evolução pós-64 e descrevemos como se comportou a estrutura de sua organização sindical patronal. Da mesma forma nos dedicamos também ao estudo da organização sindical da categoria bancária no Estado de São Paulo para nela identificar o Sindicato da capital e a Federação estadual como negociadores junto aos patrões. Realizamos a seguir acompanhamento e caracterização das negociações coletivas do meio bancário. Nela sobressaíram a centralização de suas estruturas de negociação, o predomínio da discussão salarial e das negociações concluídas sem o julgamento dos dissídios. Estabelecemos por fim uma comparação entre o quadro geral das negociações coletivas e as do setor bancário frisando os resultados das negociações, seu processo e estrutura

In my first chapter, I provide a solution for how to model bargaining when there is on-the-job search and worker turnover depends on the wage. Bargaining is a standard feature in models without on-the-jobs search, but, due to endogeneity of the match surplus, a solution does not exist when worker turnover depends on the wage. My solution is based on wages being infrequently renegotiated. With renegotiation, the equilibrium wage distribution and the bargaining outcomes are both unique and the model nests earlier models in the literature as limit cases when wages are either continuously or never renegotiated. Furthermore, the rate of renegotiation has important implications for the nature of the equilibrium. A higher rate of renegotiation lowers the response of the match duration to a wage increase, which decreases a firm's willingness to accept a higher wage. This results in a lower share of the match surplus going to the worker. Moreover, a high rate of renegotiation also lowers the positive wage spillovers from a minimum wage increase, since these spillovers rely on firms' incentives to use higher wages to reduce turnover. In the standard job ladder model, search is modelled via an employment-specific Poisson rate. The size of the Poisson rate governs the size of the search friction. The Poisson rate can represent the frequency of applications by workers or the rate at which firms post suitable vacancies. In the second chapter, which is co-authored with Jake Bradley, we set up a model which has both of these aspects. Firms infrequently post vacancies and workers occasionally apply for these vacancies. The model nests the standard job ladder model and a version of the stock-flow model as special cases while remaining analytically tractable and easy to estimate empirically from standard panel data sets. The structurally estimated parameters are consistent with recent survey evidence of worker behavior. The model fits moments of the data that are inconsistent with the standard job ladder model and in the process reconciles the level of frictional wage dispersion in the data with replacement ratios used in the macro labor literature. In my third chapter, which is co-authored with Coen Teulings, we develop a simple method to measure the position in the job ladder in models with on-the-job search. The methodology uses two implications from models with on-the-job search: workers gradually select into better paying jobs until they get laid off at which time they start again to climb the job ladder. The measure relies on two sources of variation: (i) time-variation in job-finding rates and (ii) individual variation in the time since the last lay-off. We use the method to quantify the returns to on-the-job search and to establish the shape of the wage offer distribution by means of simple OLS regressions with wages as dependent variables. Moreover, we derive a simple prediction on the distribution of job durations. Applying the method to the NLSY 79, we find strong support for this class of models. We estimate the standard deviation of the wage offer distribution to be 12%. OJS accounts for 30% of the experience profile and 9% of the total wage dispersion.