Since the onset of the Great Recession, Germany's economy has been praised for its superior performance, which has been reminiscent of the "economic miracle" of the 1950s and 1960s. Such acclaim is surprising because Germany's economic institutions were widely dismissed as faulty just a decade ago. In Holding the Shop Together, Stephen J. Silvia examines the oscillations of the German economy across the entire postwar period through one of its most important components-the industrial relations system.

As Silvia shows in this wide-ranging and deeply informed account, the industrial relations system is strongest where the German economy is strongest and is responsible for many of the distinctive features of postwar German capitalism. It extends into the boardrooms, workplaces and government to a degree that is unimaginable in most other countries. Trends in German industrial relations, moreover, influence developments in the broader German economy and, frequently, industrial relations practice abroad. All these aspects make the German industrial relations regime an ideal focal point for developing a deeper understanding of the German economy as a whole. Silvia begins by presenting the framework of the German industrial relations system-labor laws and the role of the state-and then analyzes its principal actors: trade unions and employers' associations. He finds the framework sound but the actors in crisis because of membership losses. Silvia analyzes the reasons behind the losses and the innovative strategies German labor and management have developed in their efforts to reverse them. He concludes with a comprehensive picture and then considers the future of German industrial relations.

About the Author

Stephen J. Silvia is Associate Professor in the School of International Service and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at American University.

Reviews

As the culmination of three decades of research, Silvia's book utilizes new evidence and an interdisciplinary approach to detail the trajectory of German industrial relations over the course of the postwar decades....Stephen J. Silvia has provided economists and historians with a readable and clearly argued story of trade unions, employers associations, and the challenges that they have faced.

-- Adam T. Rosenbaum * German Studies Review *

In this wide-rangingthoroughly researched study of industrial relations in GermanySilvia (School of International ServiceAmerican Univ.) examines the evolution of trade unionsemployers' associationsand collective bargaining in various economic sectors since the end of WW IIas well as the development of "codeterminations, i.e. the role of work councils and of employee representatives on supervisory boards.... This volume will be a value to economists as well as political scientists inderested in collective bargaining and the postwar German economy."

-- H.D. Renning * Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780801478970
Author Stephen J. Silvia
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint ILR Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 18mm