Summaries
Two rounds of reducing working hours in the Netherlands, 1982-'85 and 1994-’97
In many collective bargaining agreements wor king hours have been reduced. This happened in two rounds, between 1982 and 1985 and be tween 1994 and 1997. Now, over half of the Dutch work force covered by an agreement has a 3 6 -hours' working week. This article focuses on the backgrounds of the second round: ex tension of shopping hours, JIT production, and overcrowded roads. The unions wanted redu ced hours for reasons of work sharing, indivi dual workers demanded for more leisure time. Employers in the private sector demanded for flexible working hours and lower bonuses for 'unsocial hours' and overtime; in the public sector, moderate wage demands were decisive because of budget cuts. The two rounds are very similar, because in both cases reducing hours fitted in the labour use strategies of many firms. Yet, in the first round these strate gies aimed at reducing over-capacity, and in the second round they aimed at making the working hours of permanent, full-time wor kers more flexible.
Industrial relations and the production of inter mediate skills in Germany and the United States
This article discusses the relation between in dustrial relations and skill investments in Ger many and the United States. Germany is known as a 'high-skill equilibrium', where high wages go together with a high skill level of the workforce. The German apprenticeship system is an important cause for this high skill level. Unions and employers' associations are not only -through collective bargaining- res ponsible for these high wages, but they also play crucial roles in the governance of appren
ticeship. The United States are -at least for the half of the population that does not attend a four-year college- a typical low skill equilibri um. The decentralised American industrial re lations system helps to sustain that equili brium. Recently, American policy-makers have started a number of reform efforts, that share important neo-corporatist characteristics. The article concludes with some remarks on the Dutch situation as compared to Germany and the U.S..
Recruitment problems of garmentmanufaturers
Garment manufacturers are expected to ac commodate ever diminishing 'turnround' times between the placing of the order and the delivery. This has been accompanied by the move to shorter runs of garments as retailers change styles and fashion more regularly to further segment their markets and maintain the interest of their customers. This increasing ly forces the manufacturers into a 'quick res ponse'. It is often assumed that these 'quick response' demands are leading to a wider disse mination of 'new production concepts' in the clothing industry. In this contribution, we try to find out to what degree the diffusion of in novative organisational practices helps to ex plain the recruitment problems of garment manufacturers. In order to answer this ques tion, the results of two Trend Study surveys are used, covering a total of 104 companies.
Employment possibilities among the low skilled of the Rotterdam labour market
Like many other metropolitan areas, the city of Rotterdam is confronted with a so-called la bour market paradox, i.e. a considerable growth of new jobs, together with high unemploy ment rates. This article tries to explain the pa
Summaries
radox by concentrating on the employment op portunities for the low qualified labour force. These opportunities will be considered against the background of a changing employment structure and the phenomenon of displace ment. As may be concluded for the period 1987- 1995, the number of low quality jobs has redu ced considerably. In addition, the unqualified labour force is displaced by skilled workers to a considerable extent. One third of al menial jobs are executed by skilled workers. Together, the transformation of the Rotterdam labour market and the phenomenon of displacement have strongly reduced the employment possi bilities among the low skilled. A shift-share analysis presents the mutual impact of both phenomena. We conclude that in the short run government intervention should concentrate on the creation of low quality jobs exclusively for the unskilled labour force. In the long run, however, only increasing educational achieve ments among the labour force may solve the Rotterdam labour market paradox.
Status differences between single men and mar ried men
Using a large, nationally representative survey in the Netherlands, we examine differences in socioeconomic status between married and cohabiting men on the one hand, and never married single men on the other hand. Descriptive analyses show that single men are
less likely to participate in the labor market, have lower occupational prestige, and have lower hourly wages than married and cohabi ting men of the same age. A common explana tion of these differences lies in the way people are selected in labor markets and marriage markets. Although there are clear differences between these forms of matching, employers and women also have selection criteria in com mon. Women, for example, may evaluate possi ble marriage candidates on the basis of econo mic characteristics, such as education, and employers may evaluate possible job candida tes on the basis of non-economic characteris tics, such as health or sociability. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, we examine status dif ferences between single and married men in multivariate analyses, using a range of control variables (education, health, social capital). Al though these control variables explain part of the status gap between single men and married men, most of the differences remain. This sug gests that selection is only part of the story and that there may be a real gain to marriage for men. This gain is interpreted in various forms of support men may receive from their wife and in the greater sense of responsiblity men may feel when they have to take care - at least in part - for a family. Further, and in particular longitudinal analyses are needed to confirm this interpretation.
