International and Comparative Employment Relations: Globalization and the Developed Market Economies edited by Greg J. Bamber, Russell D. Lansbury and Nick Wailes, 4th edition, London: Sage, 2004, 454 pages, ISBN 1-4129-0125-1 (pbk).

This book is an update of the popular text whose last version appeared in 1998. Structurally it is identical to the last edition. There is an introductory chapter, 10 country studies, a conclusion and an excellent, extensive statistical appendix. The introductory chapter by Greg Bamber, Russell Lansbury and new co-editor, Nick Wailes, contains a brief discussion of the nature of the subject, reasons for studying it and pitfalls of comparative analysis. The authors also review several frameworks for approaching the subject including John Dunlop’s IR Systems Framework, collective bargaining as an organizing concept, the convergence hypothesis and critical political economy. They also denote, as a major theme of the book, “the impact of globalization on employment relations.” The core of the book consists of country chapters written by scholars generally recognized to be among the most outstanding in their respective nations. Most have also been involved in comparative research projects or are active in organizations such as the International Industrial Relations Association and thus are sensitive to international analysis. Contributors include Mick Marchington, John Goodman and John Berridge from the UK; Harry Katz and Hoyt Wheeler from the USA; Mark Thompson and Daphne Taras from Canada; Russell Lansbury and Nick Wailes on Australia; Janine Goetschy and Annett Jobert from France; Olle Hammarström, Tony Huzzard and Tommy Nilsson from Sweden. Yasuo Kuwahara contributed the chapter on Japan and Young-Bum Park and Chris Leggett the one on South Korea. New authors include Sarafino Negrelli and Peter Sheldon doing Italy and Berndt Keller writing on Germany. Although the authors define employment relations as comprehending labour relations and human resource management, the basic organizational framework for each chapter appears to be Dunlop’s IR Systems Framework. After describing the economic, political and social climate, the authors commonly discuss the role of labour organizations, employer organizations and the state and the interaction between them including prominently “collective bargaining, arbitration and other forms of job regulation.” In addition, each chapter contains a section on contemporary concerns in which such “human resource” issues as employee involvement, deregulation and labour market flexibility are discussed. One of the strengths of this book is that it provides an update of the state of industrial relations in a sample of developed market economies. Among notable general observations is that trade unions, caught in the vice of increasing global competitiveness, government belt-tightening and restrictive monetary policy, generally continue to experience hard times. Among national developments that stand out is the deterioration of German institutions discussed eloquently by Keller. His data suggest that although the much studied and heralded codetermination system is not about to sink, it has sprouted some serious leaks. Another major development is the contrary-to-general-trend revitalization of Swedish industrial relations as the Swedes continue to amaze the world with their ingenuity and creativity. Despite the withdrawal of the Swedish Employer’s Federation from established institutions of cooperative economic management, at the industry/sectoral level new cooperative institutions have been invented and appear to be functioning well. Also notable is the continuing inability of Japan to pull out of an economic slump that is now nearly a decade and a half old, amidst continuing debate about the influence of Japan’s unique industrial relations practices on that situation. In the United States, organized labour continues to grow weaker despite the high hopes for reinvigoration that were held by many when new and progressive leadership gained ascendancy in the 1990s. With nearly 200 countries in the contemporary world and huge variations among them, choosing countries to include in a book of this sort, with a view towards providing the reader with a good sense of the …