Abstract
Changes to dynamics work and employment have resulted in calls for more sustainable management, procedural control, institutional governance, and political accountability. Against this background, there is renewed attention to regulation, its terms, nature and quality, and its role to shape the employment relationship. An important concern for international and comparative human resource management (I/CHRM) is understanding the role of regulation in interacting with these changes and how this varies across within and between countries. Regulation sits at the centre of competing economic and social demands, which are seen as both complementary and irreconcilable, and its complexity needs to be theorized and empirically mapped. The article discusses key themes related to changes to dynamics, processes and structures, and tensions that concern the fields of I/CHRM and its relationship with the regulation of work and employment. The article calls for more comprehensive insight into the theoretical links between regulation and I/CHRM, and more empirical evidence of their interplay across contexts. It suggests that engaging with the paradoxes and ambiguities of different competing agendas of regulation of work and employment, and exploring these in relation to different social actors within and across geographies is a significant step in advancing research in this area.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2957-2982 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | International Journal of Human Resource Management |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Dec 2017 |
Funding
The editors of the special issue would like to acknowledge the support of, and thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for funding the seminar series ‘The Regulation of Work and Employment: Toward a Multidisciplinary, Multilevel Framework’ (2013–2015). We extend our gratitude to presenters and participants who attended the seminars and contributed to debates that motivated the preparation of this Special Issue. Finally, we would like to thank the authors who submitted articles for consideration in this Special Issue and the reviewers who generously gave their time and constructive engagement to support the peer review process. The work in this paper was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [grant number ES/L000660/1].
Keywords
- comparative HRM
- employment
- international HRM
- regulation
- work