Is social partnership the way forward for Indian trade unions? Evidence from public services

Since the start of economic reforms in 1991, India's trade unions have found themselves increasingly excluded from the political process and marginalized in collective bargaining. Using survey and interview data from the Maharashtra affiliates of two national union federations, this article examines whether social partnership with employers is a viable option for Indian unions to regain influence and protect workers' interests, as some analysts have advocated. Its findings indicate that despite Maharashtra's supportive regulatory framework, which in theory should facilitate cooperative industrial relations, the realities of workplace employment relations – coupled with state indifference and adverse judicial interventions – weaken labour's prospects for meaningful social partnership.     

Le partenariat social,une voie d'avenir pour les syndicats indiens? Illustration par le cas de la fonction publique

En Inde, depuis les réformes économiques de 1991, les syndicats ont toujours moins d'influence sur les politiques adoptées et l'issue de la négociation collective. En se fondant sur des données recueillies dans l'État du Maharashtra, auprès de délégués de deux centrales syndicales, l'auteur cherche à vérifier si le «partenariat social», au sens de coopération avec l'employeur, pourrait permettre aux syndicats d'inverser la tendance et de servir plus efficacement les intérêts des travailleurs. Si la législation protectrice du Maharashtra semble propice à la concertation, les pratiques sur le terrain, l'indifférence des autorités et une jurisprudence défavorable réduisent les possibilités de bâtir un véritable partenariat social.     

The political economy of fraud in a globalised industry: the case of seafarers' certifications

This paper reports on the first systematic and international investigation of the fraudulent trade in seafarers’ certifications of competence. The shipping industry more than any other traditional industry has been transformed by globalisation, so that there is now effectively a single global labour market for seafarers. International regulation of labour standards in the industry is extensive, but so is regulatory avoidance. This paper seeks to investigate the political economy of fraud, through an exploration of the links between economic features of the globalised shipping industry and regulatory avoidance of labour standards.     

An extension of a theorem on the aggregation of separable preferences

An Excess-Voting Function relative to a profile π assigns to each pair of alternatives (x,y), the number of voters who prefer x to y minus the number of voters who prefer y to x. It is shown that any non-binary separable Excess-Voting Function can be achieved from a preferences profile when individuals are endowed with separable preferences. This result is an extension of Hollard and Le Breton (1996). Received: 16 December 1996 / Accepted: 8 October 1997     

Sustainable Development of Maritime Tourism in Croatia 2007–2015

This paper’s objective has been an analysis of the sustainable development of Croatia’s maritime tourism. In order to define the main characteristics and determinants of the maritime tourism, a model of growth has been used. The evaluation and analysis of the relevant variables and the resulting growth rates have been aimed at a scientific formulation of the results of the sustainable development analysis of the maritime tourism in the Republic of Croatia. Combinations of a number of scientific methods have been used, among which the most relevant are statistical and mathematical methods, method of model drawing, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction. The basic hypothesis has been confirmed through the direct growth rates of the chosen model variables. It has been confirmed that, based on scientific insights into the sustainable development of the maritime tourism, it is possible to suggest a new model of its sustainable development in Croatia for the period 2007–2015.