Transfer

The 2021–2022 inflation crisis in the EU offers an opportunity to examine how diverse industrial relations systems respond to similar macroeconomic shocks. This article compares Romania and Slovenia, two post-communist countries whose industrial relations systems are poles apart. The expectation was that, in contrast to the enfeebled Romanian system, Slovenia would not only resort to social dialogue but also adopt comprehensive measures to shield workers from the dual energy- and food-related shock. Yet, there was less divergence than anticipated. In particular, while unilateralism took place in Romania because of the weakness of its unions post-2011, the interruption of tripartite negotiations in Slovenia was the result of the social partners’ actions and not a deliberate government strategy. Hence, while confirming that governments play the main role in supporting social dialogue, this article suggests that the social partners also carefully ponder the costs and benefits of their involvement in tripartite policy-making.

Igor Guardiancich

Aurora Trif

Transfer European Review of Labour and Research

Energy and inflation crises in Romania and Slovenia: different institutions, similar responses

罗马尼亚和斯洛文尼亚的能源与通胀危机：不同的制度，相似的应对

We analyse wage developments in Germany during the inflation shock years of 2021–2023 from three perspectives: cost of living, supply-side cost pressure, and relational. With an export-led growth model, Germany is dependent on a favourable real effective exchange rate. Because of its above-average exposure to the energy crisis and low unemployment, Germany was particularly vulnerable to strong wage demands, putting at risk its cost competitiveness. In response to the inflation crisis, moderate collective bargaining outcomes have resulted from widespread use of one-off payments, longer duration of collective agreements, and ‘zero-month’ clauses, which have delayed wage increases. As in all other eurozone countries, employees have suffered real wage losses, but nominal wage increases at the lower end of the labour market fared better than average. Major competitiveness shifts have occurred in the eurozone, particularly to the detriment of Eastern European countries and the Baltics, but not Germany.

Martin Höpner

Donato Di Carlo

Anke Hassel

Shielding competitiveness: Germany’s wage policy during the inflation shock years in comparative perspective

屏蔽竞争力：从比较视角看德国在通胀冲击期间的工资政策

This article explores how the impact of the 2022–2023 inflationary episode was managed in Greece, and explains how labour market governance framed public policy responses. Greece resembles other southern European countries in the chronic weakness of its institutional preconditions for managing emerging inflationary pressures in a coordinated manner. Greece is also different, however, in that the previous two economic shocks had left a legacy of drastically diminished collective bargaining, financially vulnerable households and a public debt-to-GDP ratio close to 200 per cent. We show that, in a context of weakened trade unions and collective bargaining institutions, the response of wages to inflation was anaemic, while profits grew strongly, especially in oligopolistic product markets. We also discuss how, in order to ease the cost-of-living crisis, the government resorted mainly to untargeted support measures with a regressive distributional impact. We conclude by reflecting on what our findings imply for Greece’s quest for a more sustainable and more inclusive growth model.

Sotiria Theodoropoulou

Christos Pierros

Manos Matsaganis

The political economy of inflation management: the case of Greece

通货膨胀管理的政治经济学：以希腊为例

When political issues remain under the radar, politicians can lend their ears to lobbyists rather than the electorate, without being held accountable in elections. In such a situation, one potential strategy for trade unions and other organisations is to boost the visibility of these issues in the media, so that voters can take them into account when deciding who to vote for. This article proposes a method for exploring the feasibility of such a strategy. The minimum wage campaign conducted by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV), which resulted in an 8–20 per cent increase in the minimum wage, is discussed as a case study. It is shown that the outcomes of the campaign are largely consistent with expectations based on the feasibility study conducted before it was launched. It is also argued that while other factors may have contributed to the outcome, they cannot explain the timing and nature of the political and media response.

Dirk Kloosterboer

Agenda-setting as a trade union strategy: the case of the minimum wage in the Netherlands

议程设置作为工会策略：荷兰最低工资案例

The 2021–2023 surge in inflation rates witnessed across many advanced economies reignited concerns about demand-driven inflationary pressures derived from wage growth. Historically, wage demands and demand-driven inflationary pressures have been channelled through organised labour, which wielded greater institutional power than it does today. This article revisits the link between industrial relations and inflation, employing a political-economy lens that views inflation as the product of political and distributive conflicts between capital and labour. Employing a variety of econometric techniques on a panel of OECD economies, the study finds that although historically there has been a positive relationship between strong industrial relations and inflation, this association has weakened progressively, becoming statistically insignificant in recent decades. This indicates that, in advanced capitalist economies, the activities of organised labour are no longer as closely linked to inflation rates as they were in the 1970s.

Joshua Cova

On industrial relations and inflation: a long-term perspective

工业关系与通货膨胀：长期视角

Abbreviation	Transfer. (Bruss).
Journal Impact	2.88
Quartiles(Global)	INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR(Q1)

ISSN	1024-2589, 1996-7284
h-index	32

Publication Information	Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 2010，Proportion of original research papers: 100.00%，Self Citation Rate:10.30%， Gold OA Rate: 40.79%

Transfer

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Energy and inflation crises in Romania and Slovenia: different institutions, similar responses

Shielding competitiveness: Germany’s wage policy during the inflation shock years in comparative perspective

The political economy of inflation management: the case of Greece

Agenda-setting as a trade union strategy: the case of the minimum wage in the Netherlands

On industrial relations and inflation: a long-term perspective

Shielding competitiveness: Germany’s wage policy during the inflation shock years in comparative perspective

Energy and inflation crises in Romania and Slovenia: different institutions, similar responses

The political economy of inflation management: the case of Greece

Agenda-setting as a trade union strategy: the case of the minimum wage in the Netherlands

On industrial relations and inflation: a long-term perspective