The book makes a major contribution to the controversy about the factors driving the persistence and expansion of the informal economy. Unlike most others studies which either take a structuralist or an actor’s choice approach to the topic, this study combines a careful assessment of the economic, social and political circumstances promoting informality with a meticulously carried out econometric analysis of the dominant characteristics of workers as well as enterprises in the informal economy in comparison to those ...

Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a core element of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. Despite hazardous working conditions in agriculture, unfortunately, OSH issues in agriculture are frequently ignored. This volume’s contributions from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nicaragua, and Pakistan as well as from various disciplines highlight - the prevalent patriarchal norms and practices which expose women to more health risks; - the lack of training and education which leave smallholders and ...

This book examines the institutional building blocks of China’s transitional wage bargaining regime taking into account the macroeconomic and political framework. Special attention is paid to the more volatile institutional setting in emerging economies. The approach enables an evaluation of the how China’s wage determination mechanism is developing. China’s economic reform process launched in 1978 had far reaching consequences on the institutional setting of its economic system. This resulted in substantial ...

In this book, Kateryna Yarmolyuk-Kröck examines the implementation and application of international law in Ukraine. In particular, the analysis is centered on the occupational safety and health (OSH) instruments of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as the European Union (EU) OSH directives and their conformity with national legal provisions. The book offers a thorough assessment of the ongoing legal reforms in Ukraine in the process of European integration and the legal nature of the EU-Ukraine ...

This book is about the largest displacement crisis and resettlement of our time. However, it is not another piece that elaborately describes the appalling situation of Syrian workers in Turkey, but explores how they are integrated into the lower ends of the value chain in several sectors. The book seeks answers of what has been largely overlooked in the literature on the question of how labor processes have been shaped in various labor-intensive sectors by class and identity.

The profound lack of social security for much of the world's population is increasingly recognised as a problem, both in policy making and in social sciences. Many new national and international policy initiatives aim at the expansion of social security and social protection in countries of the Global South. Correspondingly, academia is discussing the specific Southern nature of welfare arrangements and regimes, as well as the design of social protection systems. This book studies India as an exemplary case of social ...

While the link between trade liberalisation and labour rights has been mostly studied at a national level, this book analyses this relation at a sectoral level. It draws on case studies of oil palm plantations and the automobile sector in Indonesia. Two main research questions guide the book: 1. How do labour- and capital-intensive sectors in Indonesia respond to competitive pressures brought about by trade liberalisation? 2. What are the implications of such responses on labour rights in the two sectors? Employing ...

Numerous uprisings and social movements in recent decades sprawled in seemingly disconnected political landscapes, from Turkey to Brazil, from South Africa to China, from Argentina to Portugal. These social protests centered on issues as varied as the right to affordable transportation, land dispossession or minority rights. The place of the working class in them seemed increasingly insignificant, and the framework of class analysis outdated. But did the concept of class really become obsolete? Are these social ...

Unionists part ways when it comes to the practical meaning of solidarity with workers who lack work permits. To some union members, undocumented migrant workers ought to be included in the bonds of union solidarity by virtue of being workers. To others, undocumented migrant workers are primarily illegal and unfair competitors undermining existing institutions of solidarity. In this controversial context, six union centers for undocumented migrant workers called MigrAr (German "Migration & Arbeit", English "migration ...

The United States of America and the European Union are currently negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is one of the most ambitious free trade and investment initiatives, going much further than eliminating tariffs. TTIP mainly aims at reducing “non-tariff barriers”. While tariffs on goods have been imposed with an eye to foreign competition, most of the non-tariff barriers are the laws and regulations that are the result of social struggles for the protection of consumers and ...