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Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics

Selected Works

2013

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Voice Without Say: Why Capital-Managed Firms Aren’T (Genuinely) Participatory, Justin Schwartz Aug 2013

Voice Without Say: Why Capital-Managed Firms Aren’T (Genuinely) Participatory, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Why are most capitalist enterprises of any size organized as authoritarian bureaucracies rather than incorporating genuine employee participation that would give the workers real authority? Even firms with employee participation programs leave virtually all decision-making power in the hands of management. The standard answer is that hierarchy is more economically efficient than any sort of genuine participation, so that participatory firms would be less productive and lose out to more traditional competitors. This answer is indefensible. After surveying the history, legal status, and varieties of employee participation, I examine and reject as question-begging the argument that the rarity of genuine …

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A Theory Without A Movement, A Hope Without A Name: The Future Of Marxism In A Post-Marxist World, Justin Schwartz Jun 2013

A Theory Without A Movement, A Hope Without A Name: The Future Of Marxism In A Post-Marxist World, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Just as Marx's insights into capitalism have been most strikingly vindicated by the rise of neoliberalism and the near-collapse of the world economy, Marxism as social movement has become bereft of support. Is there any point in people who find Marx's analysis useful in clinging to the term "Marxism" - which Marx himself rejected -- at time when self-identified Marxist organizations and societies have collapsed or renounced the identification, and Marxism own working class constituency rejects the term? I set aside bad reasons to give on "Marxism," such as that the theory is purportedly refuted, that its adoption leads necessarily …

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Tackling Undeclared Work In Croatia, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy May 2013

Tackling Undeclared Work In Croatia, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

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The Shadow Economy, Colin C. Williams, Friedrich Schneider May 2013

The Shadow Economy, Colin C. Williams, Friedrich Schneider

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

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Tackling Undeclared Work In Turkey, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy May 2013

Tackling Undeclared Work In Turkey, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

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The Emergence Of A Standards Market: Multiplicity Of Sustainability Standards In The Global Coffee Industry, Juliane Reinecke, Stephan Manning, Oliver Von Hagen Mar 2013

The Emergence Of A Standards Market: Multiplicity Of Sustainability Standards In The Global Coffee Industry, Juliane Reinecke, Stephan Manning, Oliver Von Hagen

Stephan Manning

The growing number of voluntary standards for governing transnational arenas is presenting standards organizations with a problem. While claiming that they are pursuing shared, overarching objectives, at the same time, they are promoting their own respective standards that are increasingly similar. By developing the notion of ‘standards markets,’ this paper examines this tension and studies how different social movement and industry-driven standards organizations compete as well as collaborate over governance in transnational arenas. Based on an in-depth case study of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry, we find that the ongoing co-existence of multiple standards is being promoted by …

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Paying For Favours: Evaluating The Role Of Blat In Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams Dec 2012

Paying For Favours: Evaluating The Role Of Blat In Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

To evaluate whether the illicit practice of using personal connections to
acquire goods and services, or to circumvent formal procedures, known as
blat in the Soviet era, persists in the post-Soviet world, 200 face-to-face
interviews conducted in the city of Mykolayiv in Ukraine are reported. The
finding is that personal networks are still commonly and widely used.
However, unlike Soviet era blat which was non-monetized friendly help,
control over access to assets and possessing personal connections to those
controlling access to assets, has become a commodity bought and sold for
illicit monetary payments. The paper concludes by discussing how this …

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Envelope Wages In The European Union, Colin C. Williams Dec 2012

Envelope Wages In The European Union, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

This article reveals how many formal employees in the European Union
receive from their formal employer not only a declared wage but also an undeclared
“envelope wage”. Reporting the results of a 2007 survey involving
26,659 face-to-face interviews, the authors find that one in 18 formal employees
receives an envelope wage from their formal employer, amounting to 25 per cent
of their gross pay on average. Such hybrid wage arrangements are ubiquitous,
but are more common in some countries, employee categories and types of firm
than others. The authors conclude by discussing the theoretical and policy implications
of these findings.

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Informal Employment In Developed And Developing Economies: Perspectives And Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams Dec 2012

Informal Employment In Developed And Developing Economies: Perspectives And Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

The aim of this introductory article is to provide a critical overview of
how informality has been defined and measured, together with selected findings
on its extent and character, and a summary of competing views regarding its role
in contemporary economies and how it can be tackled. The outcome is a set of
conceptual frameworks for understanding both the burgeoning literature on informal
employment and how each of the perspectives presented in this Special Issue
contributes to the advancement of knowledge on this subject so as to set the scene
for the articles that follow.

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