A theory of employment systems : micro-foundations of societal diversity.

This text examines why there are such international differences in the way employment relations are organized within the firm. It aims to explain why firms and workers should use employment relationship as the basis for their economic co-operation.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marsden, David, 1950-
Corporate Author: Oxford University Press
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999.
Subjects:
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Table of Contents:
  • List of Figures; List of Tables; Part I: A Theory of Employment Systems; 1. The Employment Relationship; Employment Systems; Incompleteness of the Employment Contract; Defining the 'Acceptable Set' of Tasks; Use of Classification Criteria to Assign Tasks to Jobs; The Function of Job Classification Systems; Two Potential Objections to the Argument; Insights from the Historical Rise of the Employment Relationship; Conclusion; 2. The Limits of Managerial Authority; Introduction; Transaction Rules and the Employment Relation; Examples of Each Type of Task Allocation Rule.
  • How each Rule Deals with Different Kinds of OpportunismConclusion; 3. Diffusion and Predominance of Employment Rules; Introduction; Task Allocation Rules as Partial 'Evolutionarily Stable Strategies'; Predominance of Individual Transaction Rules; The Need for Inter-firm Institutions; Conclusion: Evolutionarily Stable Strategies and Labour Institutions; 4. Classification Rules and the Consolidation of Employment Systems; Introduction; A Theory of Job Classification; Some Lessons from Occupational Classifications used in Earnings Statistics; Labour Market Conventions and Job Classifications.
  • Some Comparative Evidence on Classifications and their DiffusionThe Role of Institutions in Diffusing Classification Rules; Employment Systems: Integrating Transaction Rules and Inter-firm Institutions; Part II: Evidence and Personnel Management Implications; 5. Societal Diversity of Employment Systems: Comparative Evidence; Some Evidence of Inter-country Differences in Employment Systems; Production Versus Training Approach: Key Indicators; Task-oriented versus Function-oriented Approach: Key Indicators; Diffusion of Main Employment Systems; Conclusion; 6. Performance Management.
  • IntroductionThe Inherent Difficulties of Performance Measurement; Mutual Distrust and Performance Management; Some Conventionally Used Performance Criteria; How the Contractual Constraints Shape Performance Criteria; Moral Hazard, Transaction Rules and Performance Criteria; Conclusion: Societal Influences on Performance Criteria; Appendix 1 Some Examples of Criteria Used in Performance Appraisal; Appendix 2 Transaction Rules and Performance Standards; 7. Pay and Incentives; A Theory of Pay and Classifications; Price as a Rule and 'Rate for the Job'
  • Rate-for-the-Job Classification and Pay for PerformanceHierarchical versus Occupational Classifications and Pay Structures; Conclusion; 8. Skills and Labour Market Structure; Introduction; Effects of the Production and Training Approaches on Labour Market Structure; Approaches to Enforceability and Functional Flexibility; Institutionalization of Transaction rules by OLMs and ILMs; Monopsony and Secondary Labour Markets; Employment and Self-employment; Conclusions; Part III: Conclusions; 9. Employment Systems and the Theory of the Firm: Societal Diversity; Introduction.