Pay Flexibility in an Ageing Workforce. A Model of Pay for the German Building Trade


Book Description

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2018 in the subject Economics - Monetary theory and policy, grade: keine, University of Gloucestershire, language: English, abstract: Starting from the demographic change, the average age of work team members in the German building trade is expected to increase in the following decades. The findings of this study show that the performance of work teams also change due to a higher average age in organizations. The changes are not uniformly positive or negative; sometimes they are even contradictory. Some relevant theories and models demonstrate that performance and pay are in a causal relationship. They affect each other or are in mutual dependence. The data analysis of the expert interviews and focus groups carried out in twelve different business types from the building trade has revealed that a change in performance does not trigger necessarily an adaptation in pay. An adaptation of pay could prove if it reduces or compensates a possible negative impact of a higher average age on team performance in work teams. The Four-dimensions-model of pay flexibility which is developed by the researcher based on the results and the findings of this study identifies the different fields of action distributed on four dimensions. The model is based on the current pay conditions of the German building trade and represents a new approach to pay. It has been worked out that pay flexibility can be expanded based on the existing conditions and has to be built up on new structures which consider the demographic change. The model is broadly set up and takes into account the individual and contractual as well as collective and market-oriented dimensions. As the German building trade is traditionally not a pioneer in future-oriented change processes it is a challenge to implement the Four-dimensions-model of pay flexibility in this trade. The establishment of the model in practice aims to preserve the competitiveness and increases the attractiveness of the occupations in the trade, in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.




Ageing and the Transition to Retirement


Book Description

There are two conflicting trends in Europe: a demographic shift towards population ageing, and a massive decrease in the labour force participation of older workers (aged 50 years and over). This captivating book offers a refined and authoritative understanding of these trends and the two socio-economic concerns of most European welfare states that have been re-enforced as a consequence. These are: the increasing costs for welfare states to finance 'pathways' from employment to official retirement, and the threat of labour market shortages in the near future as a result of both the ageing process and the early exit of older workers. A variety of new policy initiatives can be observed emerging from these changes in many European countries - this book examines the different welfare state arrangements in nine EU countries plus Hungary, Slovenia and Norway. It considers ways of integrating older workers in the labour market along with differing perspectives on the relation between ageing and work.




OECD Economic Surveys: Germany 1998


Book Description

This 1998 edition of OECD's periodic review of Germany's economy examines recent economic developments, policies and prospects. It also includes special features on reforming the federal fiscal system and on policies to promote growth and employment.




Human Resource Management in Construction


Book Description

The construction sector is one of the most complex and problematic arenas within which to manage people. As a result, the applicability of much mainstream human resource management (HRM) theory to this industry is limited. Indeed, the operational realities faced by construction organizations mean that all too often the needs of employees are subjugated by performance concerns. This has potentially dire consequences for those who work in the industry, for the firms that employ them and ultimately, for the prosperity and productivity of the industry as a whole. In this new edition of their leading text, Andrew Dainty and Martin Loosemore have assembled a collection of perspectives which critically examine key aspects of the HRM function in the context of contemporary construction organizations. Rather than simply update the previous edition, the aim of this second edition is to provide a more critical commentary on the ways in which the industry addresses the HRM function and how this affects those who work within the industry. To this end, the editors have gathered contributions from many of the leading thinkers within construction HRM to critique the perspectives presented in the first edition. Each contributor either tackles specific aspects of the HRM function, or provides a critical commentary on industry practice. The authors explain, using real-life case studies, the ways in which construction firms respond to the myriad pressures that they face through their HRM practices. Together the contributions encourage the reader to rethink the HRM function and its role in defining the employment relationship. This provides essential reading for students of construction and project management, and reflective practitioners who are interested in theoretically informed insights into industry practice and its implications.







Preventing Ageing Unequally


Book Description

This report examines how the two global mega-trends of population ageing and rising inequalities have been developing and interacting, both within and across generations.




Comparing Welfare Capitalism


Book Description

This book challenges the popular thesis of a downward trend in the viability of welfare states in competitive market economies. With approaches ranging from historical case studies to cross-national analyses, the contributors explore various aspects of the relationships between welfare states, industrial relations, financial government and production systems. Building upon and combining comparative studies of both the varieties of capitalism and the worlds of welfare state regimes, the book considers issues such as: *the role of employers and unions in social policy *the interdependencies between financial markets and pension systems * the current welfare reform process. It sheds new light on the tenuous relationship between social policies and market economies and provides thought-provoking reading for students and scholars of Comparative Politics, Public Policy, the Welfare State and Political Economy.







The Politics of Welfare State Transformation in Germany


Book Description

How can we best analyse contemporary welfare state change? And how can we explain and understand the politics of it? This book contributes to these questions both empirically and theoretically by concentrating on one of the least likely cases for welfare state transformation in Europe. It analyzes in detail how and why institutional change has taken Germany’s welfare state from a conservative towards a new work-first regime. Christof Schiller introduces a novel analytical framework to make sense of the politics of welfare state transformation by providing the missing link: the capacity of the core executive over time. Examining the policy making process in labour market policy in the period between 1980 and 2010, he identifies three different policy making episodes and analyses their interaction with developments and changes in such policy areas as pension policy, family policy, labour law, tax policy and social assistance. The book advances existing efforts aimed at conceptualizing and measuring welfare state change by proposing a clear-cut conceptualization of social policy regime change and introduces a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of the welfare-work nexus between 1980 and 2010 in Germany. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of social policy, comparative welfare state reform, welfare politics, government, governance, public policy, German politics, European politics, political economy, sociology and history.




Reinventing Fire


Book Description

Imagine fuel without fear. No climate change. No oil spills, no dead coalminers, no dirty air, no devastated lands, no lost wildlife. No energy poverty. No oil-fed wars, tyrannies, or terrorists. No leaking nuclear wastes or spreading nuclear weapons. Nothing to run out. Nothing to cut off. Nothing to worry about. Just energy abundance, benign and affordable, for all, forever. That richer, fairer, cooler, safer world is possible, practical, even profitable-because saving and replacing fossil fuels now works better and costs no more than buying and burning them. Reinventing Fire shows how business-motivated by profit, supported by civil society, sped by smart policy-can get the US completely off oil and coal by 2050, and later beyond natural gas as well. Authored by a world leader on energy and innovation, the book maps a robust path for integrating real, here-and-now, comprehensive energy solutions in four industries-transportation, buildings, electricity, and manufacturing-melding radically efficient energy use with reliable, secure, renewable energy supplies.Popular in tone and rooted in applied hope, Reinventing Fire shows how smart businesses are creating a potent, global, market-driven, and explosively growing movement to defossilize fuels. It points readers to trillions in savings over the next 40 years, and trillions more in new business opportunities.Whether you care most about national security, or jobs and competitive advantage, or climate and environment, this major contribution by world leaders in energy innovation offers startling innovations will support your values, inspire your support, and transform your sense of possibility.Pragmatic citizens today are more interested in outcomes than motives. Reinventing Fire answers this trans-ideological call. Whether you care most about national security, or jobs and competitive advantage, or climate and environment, its startling innovations will support your values, inspire your support, and transform your sense of possibility.