Comparative studies of national collective bargaining systems provide insight into the dynamics of power structures of contemporary societies. Internationalisation of production and markets, social differentiation and individualization are often seen as the engines of decentralisation of bargaining systems, as witnessed in the United States and the United Kingdom.
However, recent years have seen a resurgence of tripartite social pacts in many European countries. In other countries, a shift from cross-sectoral to sectoral bargaining has occurred. In the Nordic countries, formerly seen as a stronghold of centralised coordination and tripartite concertation, a variety of these tendencies can be observed. Similarities in labour and welfare regimes, along with different links to the economic and political integration in Europe, make the Nordic countries a particularly interesting subject for comparative research on the dynamics of collective bargaining systems.
The present publication is a collection of contributions to the conference National regimes of collective bargaining in transformation: Nordic trends in a comparative perspective, jointly organized by Fafo – Institute for Labour and Social Research and the Norwegian Power and Democracy Study, Oslo 5 – 6 September 2002.
To what extent and in what sense do Nordic systems of collective bargaining become more similar or dissimilar to those of other industrialised countries? How can we account for those tendencies of change? And, to what extent do they affect the distribution of income, wealth and power, and political leverage? These were the central questions of the conference. Of course, no definite answers have been provided. But hopefully, the conference has illuminated some of these complex problems.
On behalf of the organizers, we thank the contributors for their spirited and insightful presentations.
Oslo, February 2003
Jon Erik Dølvik and Fredrik Engelstad