Developing a strong theoretical base for research and practice in industrial relations and human resource management has to date remained a largely unfulfilled challenge. This text presents contributions from 15 scholars, developing their perspectives on work and the employment relationship.

One of the major purposes of this book is to help clarify the term "industrial relations" and thus to assist meaningful discussion about the strengths and deficiencies of the body of thought to which it refers. The editors' premise is that industrial relations is a multinational field whose disciples should be seeking principles that apply over the broadest span of time and space. Contributors include Roy J. Adams, Jack Barbash, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Braham Dabscheck, John Godard, Steve M. Hills, Kevin Hince, Thomas Kochan, Viateur Larouche and Michel Audet, Craig R. Littler, Noah M. Meltz, Michael Poole, Paula Voos, and Hoyt Wheeler, with an introduction by Roy J. Adams.

This revised edition of Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice follows the approach established successfully in preceding volumes edited by Paul Edwards. The focus is on Britain after a decade of public policy which has once again altered the terrain on which employment relations develop. Government has attempted to balance flexibility with fairness, preserving light-touch regulation whilst introducing rights to minimum wages and to employee representation in the workplace. Yet this is an open economy, conditioned significantly by developing patterns of international trade and by European Union policy initiatives. This interaction of domestic and cross-national influences in analysis of changes in employment relations runs throughout the volume.

'Besides a well-written introduction by the two editors, the book presents seventeen other chapters, some by well-known writers on the subject or related social sciences. . . This is a substantial resource book for scholars and students of comparative ER, especially for those who look towards the evolution of ER in the new economic world that is in formation, and in a comparative perspective. . . the book contains intellectually stimulating analyses of employee relations realities across the globe. . . Scholars belonging to different disciplinary perspectives, from which ER has been studied in the past, will also find in it a good reference material of comparative analyses. . . The publishers too deserve accolades for their professionalism and first rate copy-editing and production.' – Debi S. Saini, Vision – the Journal of Business Perspectives 'The book is a comprehensive volume of studies on employment relations in a wide variety of settings. . .an enriching compendium.' – Silvia Florea, Management of Sustainable Development The Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations is an essential resource for those seeking to understand contemporary developments in the world of work, and the way in which employment relations systems are evolving around the world. Special consideration is given to the impact of globalisation and the role of multinational corporations, including their consequences for the fate of workers' rights under existing national systems of employment relations (ER) regulation. This Handbook is unique in taking an explicitly comparative approach by discussing ER developments through a series of paired country comparisons. These chapters include a wide selection of countries from all regions, looking beyond those that are frequently discussed. The expert contributors also examine comparative issues from a range of perspectives, including industrial and employment relations, political economy, comparative politics, and cross-cultural studies. These impressive features make this important reference tool the most comprehensive of its kind. Academics and students in final-year undergraduate and postgraduate courses interested in employment relations will find this compendium enriching and insightful.

'The most comprehensive and authoritative comparative analysis of employment relations . . .' Thomas Kochan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States '. . . breaks new ground as an integrated account of the forces shaping employment relations.' William Brown, University of Cambridge. United Kingdom Established as the standard reference for a worldwide readership of students, scholars and practitioners in international agencies, governments, companies and unions, this text offers a systematic overview of international employment relations. Chapters cover the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Japan, South Korea, China and India. Experts examine the context of employment relations in each country: economic, historical, legal, social and political. They consider the roles of the major players: employers, unions and governments. They outline the processes of employment relations: collective bargaining and arbitration, consultation and employee involvement. Topical issues are discussed: non-unionised workplaces, novel forms of human resource management, labour law reform, multinational enterprises, networked organisations, differences between Asian and Western companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, migrant workers, technological change, labour market flexibility and pay determination. This sixth edition is fully revised with an emphasis on globalisation and comparative theories, including concepts of convergence. It offers a new framework for varieties of capitalism in the Introduction, and concludes with an insightful account of the forces shaping employment relations in the world economy.