Comparative employment relations

The course 'Comparative Employment Relations' (6 ECTS) provides an advanced - although concise - introduction to the broad field of employment and industrial relations in a comparative perspective.
It is composed of two modules, each corresponding to 3 ECTS.

MODULE 1
Aim of the first module is to achieve conceptual and analytical tools for the comparative study of employment and industrial relations, within a broader approach concerning the socio-economic regulation of industrialized democracies.
Topics will include:
- qualitative and quantitative methods for the study of employment and industrial relations;
- studying employment/industrial relations comparatively;
- a multi-level approach to employment/industrial relations;
- an introductory scheme: context, actors, methods, rules.

MODULE 2
Aim of the second module is to focus on trends and problems regarding employment and industrial relations in a number of European and non-European countries in a phase of intensified economic internationalization, to explore recent attempts to develop supranational forms of industrial relations, to discuss problems and challenges in the regulation of labour and employment that are emerging cross-nationally in the globalized economy.
Topics will include:
- patterns of employment/industrial relations in different European and non-European countries;
- European integration and the development of a European level of employment/industrial relations;
- multinational companies and the emergence of supranational/international levels of employment/industrial relations;
- organizing and representing migrant workers;
- the emergence, diffusion and regulation of atypical jobs and new forms of employment;
- the debate on the future of employment/industrial relations mediated collectively.