Darbo santykių institucijų kaita Lietuvoje institucinių veikėjų požiūriu ; Institutional change of labor relations in Lithuania from the viewpoint of institutional actors

Abstract

The paper conceptualises labor relations from the new institutionalist perspective. Labor relations are described as formal and informal institutional rules and practices. The following institutions are analysed: formal regulation of hiring, firing and working conditions; informal institutions of hiring, firing and working conditions; wage setting; representation of the employee collective; and labor market policy instruments. It is argued that the discourse of development of labor relations is a necessary although an insufficient condition for institutional change, and that studying the discourse helps us to understand some of the important characteristics of change. For this purpose empirical qualitative research was conducted. The research was based on interviews with actors within the fields of institutional change, policy making and the production of knowledge. The research attempted to unveil what the institutionalist actors thought of the issues of institutional performance, priorities of institutional change and chances for a change to be implemented. The results showed that the main problems concerning labor relations in Lithuania, as emphasized by the actors, were the rigidity of formal regulations and their weak enforcement, which results in the expansion of informal institutions. The main priorities of change are flexibility in labor relations and the development of collective bargaining. The findings reveal that, firstly, finding solutions to the problems and the implementation of the priorities conditioned by the interaction among the different labor relations institutions were limited. Secondly, the priorities of change represent an ideal picture labor relations and are weakly linked to the objective conditions of the institutional reality.[.]