Employment Relations as Networks

Bernd Brandl is Professor at Durham University Business School. In his research he is dealing with methodological, empirical and theoretical research questions in the fields of employment relations and international HRM. In particular, much of his thematic and theoretical research focused on comparative cross-country analyses of different employment relations and labour market systems, institutions and policies. Professor Brandl is also engaging in policy making debates and worked as an advisor/expert for international organizations such as the European Commission and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Bengt Larsson is a professor of sociology at Linnaeus University and University of Gothenburg in Sweden. His research focuses on industrial relations and transnational trade union cooperation. Larsson has published several papers in journals such as European Journal of Industrial Relations, British Journal of Industrial relations, Economic and Industrial Democracy, and Industrial Relations Journal. Together with Professor Bengt Furåker, Larsson recently published a book entitled Trade Union Cooperation in Europe: Patterns, Conditions, Issues (Palgrave Pivot, 2020). Alex Lehr is an assistant professor in empirical political science at Radboud University. His research is at the intersection of sociology, economics and political science, and focuses on economic inequality, employment relations and labour market representation. He specializes in the development and synthesis of micro-level theories, and the collection and statistical analyses of novel micro-level data, e.g., via surveys and experiments. Lehr has published papers in journals such as Work, Employment and Society, Economic and Industrial Democracy, Employee Relations, Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, and Rationality and Society. Oscar Molina is associate professor at the Department of Sociology and researcher at Centre d’Estudis Sociològics QUIT - Institute for Labour Studies, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He holds a degree in Economics (Pompeu Fabra University) and a PhD in Social and Political Science at the European University Institute (EUI-Florence). He has been post-doctoral researcher at the Industrial Relations and Human Resources Group, University College Dublin (2005-2007) and ICREA Researcher at QUIT, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and currently coordinator of Eurofound’s national correspondent team in Spain. His main research interests include comparative industrial relations, labour market policies, neo-corporatism.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

1. Introduction

PART 1 Methodological and conceptual issues

Brandl, Larsson, Lehr, Molina

2. Social Network Employment Research: Tracing New Horizons in the Field of Work and Labour,

Pulignano

3. SNA in Employment Relations Research: Concept and methodologies

Marti, Vacchiano, Molina

4. Multilevelness and Multiplexity in Trade Union Cooperation Networks in Europe

Larsson

5. From Structures to Outcomes: Network Mechanisms and Network Effects in Collective Bargaining

Lehr

6. From Factors to Actors: Networks and Network Theory in Comparative Industrial Relations

Brandl

PART 2. Case studies and applications

7. The Impact of Network Ties on Worker Voice

Sluiter, Manevska, Akkerman

8. Losing what you never had. How a strike changed management’s (perception of) their network position,

Akkerman, Manevska, Thommes, Sluiter

9. Articulation of Interests: A Network Perspective on Employee Representation in Multinational Companies

Haipeter, Hertwig, Rosenbohm

10. Forms of Network Governance for the European Trade Union Federation

Nordin

11. International Networks and the Activities of Peak Employer’s Associations: Do as I Do?

Lehr, Brandl

12. Towards an Extension of the Employer’s Role in Networked Employment Relations? Food for Thought from Collective Bargaining with the Property of Outlet Malls in Italy

Gasparri

13. Collective Bargaining Networks and Relational Coordination. A Comparative Analysis

Molina, Marti, Godino

14. Conclusions and outlook: structures, actors and mechanisms in employment relations

Brandl, Larsson, Lehr, Molina