Comparative labour law and industrial relations in industrialized market economies

Comparativism is no longer a purely academic exercise but has increasingly become an urgent necessity for industrial relations and legal practitioners due to the growth of multinational enterprises and the impact of international and regional organizations aspiring to harmonize rules. The growing need for comprehensive, up-to-date and readily available information on labour law and industrial relations in different countries led to the publication of the 'International Encyclopaedia for Labour Law and Industrial Relations', in which more than 70 international and national monographs have thus far been published. 0This book goes a step further than the 'Encyclopaedia' in as much as most of the chapters provide comparative and integrated thematic treatment. The aim is to describe the salient characteristics and trends in labour law and industrial relations in the contemporary world. This book is obviously not exhaustive, with respect to the coverage of countries and topics. The authors limit themselves mainly to the industrialized market economies. The book is divided in four main parts: an introduction relating to methodology and documentation, including the use of Internet. The sec