The Ratio Colloquium on the Role of Markets in Industrial Relations and Labour Studies

Call for papers

The Ratio Institute invites junior scholars in management, economics, public policy, economic history, sociology, etc. to submit proposals for a cross disciplinary research colloquium in Stockholm, Sweden.

The field of industrial relations and labour studies is dominated by market sceptic or interventionist ideas. As a result, cartels, collective bargaining, and price regulations are seen as normal and defendable. The role of market mechanisms are underexplored in labour market research. The ambition of the Colloquium is to investigate, empirically or analytically, the role of markets in industrial relations and labour studies. Could it be, for example, that it is the special regulations and interventions in these markets that cause many of the problems we see with unemployment, especially among the youth, skills shortage, social divisions, slow growth etc? We encourage papers dealing with, but not limited to the following issues:

· Effects of deregulation of labour markets
· Competitiveness and wage formation
· Rights of individuals versus rights of industrial action
· Minimum wages by law or by collective bargaining