Summaries
I n n o v a tio n a n d e m p lo y m e n t
E.M.J. Hoogteijling
The impact of innovation on employment is a topic among economists and politicians. In this article the relation between innovation and the demand for labour is studied by analyzing chan ges in the employment structure of individual firms.
It is argued that these changes result both from innovations and other economic and non-econ- omic causes. In order to facilitate a comparison between very divergent innovations in differing firms and industrial sectors a new typology was elaborated upon, which classifies innovations according to their impacts on employment. The proposed typology was tested with a small num ber of firms in food-processing industries. The results indicate that during the 1980-1984 period within-firm employment decreased by nearly 2% due to innovative activities. This figure has been disaggregated into a positive effect on the demand for labour caused by the introduc tion of new products or market expansion and a negative-impact owing to rationalisation.
In t h e w h ir lp o o l: s e m i-s k ille d w o r k e r s and a u to m a tio n
J . De Schampheleire
This double case study of two Belgian companies surveyed the attitude of semi-skilled workers to the automation they are encountering. A compa rison was made between the two companies, and between the manual and automated assembling divisions in each company. Automated workers show a clear, positive attitude towards automa tion, while the manual workers are much more divided, showing ambiguity and resignation. The results can only be understood when we see them
through the glasses of the workers’ instrumental orientation. The main anxiety of all the inter viewees is the impact of automation on their own job-security. By this some apparent paradoxes in the attitudes of the automated workers vanish. They are less anxious about the impact of auto mation on employment because ‘their’ work is safe. Despite the reduction of control in then- work they maintain a positive attitude towards automation since the content and characteristic of work is deemed less important and the reduc tion in work pressure is appreciated.
Whilst the total amount and content of assembly work is diminishing quickly, the attitudes of the workers concerned are also driving them further and further apart.
B e n e fits an d C o sts o f th e im p r o v e m e n t o f w o r k in g c o n d it io n s
K.J. Poll and J.A.M. Louman
In recent literature there are not found useful models to describe and quantify the relation be tween costs of the improvement of working con ditions (fysical load, climate, task identity etc.) and the benefits for the company.
There are found research projects that have dem onstrated certain relations between the differ ent aspects of the working condition and sick- nessrate, productivity, accidents etc. In this ar ticle the authors are composed a model with some qualitative relations, that can help practit ioners to identify the different costs and poten tial benefits. The explanation of the model can also help them to separate normal costs and extra costs for the improvement of working condit ions. In the future hopely there can be presen ted an instrument that helps to define and to account the different costs and benefits. As long
I---as the benefits are difficult to prove support by the government can be necessary to stimulate improvements.
C o lle c tiv e a c t io n a n d fre e rid er b e h a v io r
B. Klandermans
In this article, it is assumed that we can only use the term free rider behavior when three condit ions have been satisfied: 1. the collective action must be effective; 2. there must be a sufficient number of participants; 3. the non-participation of a single individual must not endanger the ef fectiveness of the collective action. Potential participants have only subjective estimates of these factors. With this in mind, non-participa tion can be termed free riding only when the non participants define the situation in such a way that the conditions for free riding are satisfied. A study among union members showed that a free rider definition of the situation was not widespread. Among those who did define the situation in this way, selective incentives turned out to be decisive as determinants of participa tion. In this sense the outcomes confirm Olson’s theory. But pessimistic expectations about the number of participating colleagues turned out to be much more important as a determinant of non-participation. So long as the expected num ber of participants is too small to make success likely, there is a simpler explanation for non participation than free riding. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Y o u n g a n d se lf-a ssu r e d
J. Veltman
This article is based on a re-analysis of an empiri cal study by prof. A.W.M. Teulings (University of Amsterdam) on membership quits in the lar gest Dutch union in the food industry. The most outstanding conclusions of prof. Teulings’ study were: former union members, if compared to those who had retained their membership,tended to concentrate in firms and jobs with rather bad working conditions, higher unemployment risks, lower union density rates, etc. They also tended to adopt a more ‘individualistic’ attitude towards union affairs and to be more politically conserva tive. However, it is argued that the conclusions, reached on the basis of pair-wise comparisons
(matching) between former and actual union members, are impaired by the fact that no dis tinction was made between those employed and those unemployed within each of the two groups. At the time, one-third of the people who had left the union were unemployed. If this is taken into account, it appears that, indeed, the unemployed ex-members tended to be worse off in terms of their former job conditions. However, if we re strict the pair-wise matching procedure to only those former and actual members who still hold jobs, we find that the ex-members have on aver age better job conditions or promotion prospects. They appear to concentrate among younger males and to be more ‘individualistic’ or ‘calcula- tive’ as to the costs and benefits of union mem bership.
R e c r u itm e n t- a n d tr a in in g str a te g ie s o f firm s a n d th e a p p r e n tic e s h ip -s y s te m
B. Hovels
An important feature of the Dutch apprentice- shipsystem is the — by way of collective agree ment arranged — coupling of the trainee-status with the employee-status of participants. As a consequence the need for qualified manpower of firms themselves appears to be a basic condition in their decisions to supply for trainee-places. Furthermore, firms are more likely to supply for trainee-places as their qualificational needs are more firm-specific, and as they stress the impor tance of social-normative qualifications as well as the immediately-productive availability of young trainee-workers. Nevertheless recruitment - and trainingstrategies of firms do not only de pend on their qualificational needs; they are an integral part of personell and organizational policies of firms more in general.
The supply for trainee-places in the apprentice- shipsystem is under pressure now, namely for three reasons. First of all, because of the existing disbalance between demand and supply for jobs. Secondly, because of rationalization tendencies in production processes, which lead to worser conditions for training on the job. And at last be cause of the structural position of the appren- ticeshipsystem vis a vis other parts of the system of vocational education, partly due to the changing content of qualificational needs within firms.
The central thesis of the article is that policy makers which aim to strengthen the apprentice
shipsystem should first of all care for a com bined employment and educational policy.
T o w a r d s a tr ip a r tite b o a rd fo r t h e E m p lo y m e n t S erv ice s
H.G. Hamaker
As an example of more general tendencies in so ciety in terms of démocratisation and rationalisa tion of gouvernmental processes, the author describes the development of the Dutch Employ ment Services from a departmental organization
towards an also by social partners governed tri partite organization. An advisory note of the Social Economic Council on this subject is com mented in the light of the views and standpoints of the Dutch Kabinet.
With respect to these Dutch circumstances a com parison is made on some aspects with those cir cumstances in the UK, Western Germany, France and Belgium. This comparison shows that it is the financial structure which is determining the corridors of power. A real and realistic tripartite gouverned organization needs therefore tripartite financial contributions.
