Suchergebnisse

Will protectionist sentiment in the United States result in the imposition of barriers ultimately impeding the flow of this foreign technology, or will the realities of reciprocity soften the restrictive legislation in some of the developing countries which are increasingly becoming technology exporters? It is clear that the international economic system becomes increasingly interdependent each year. What is ever more apparent is that trade flows, international capital movements, and the transnational transfer of technology are inextricably interrelated with other issues involved in the Global Dialogue, such as the role of energy in development, (including petroleum and alternate sources), the stabilization of commodity prices, and the access to developed countries' markets for lesser developed countries' exports.

The Swedish model of industrial relations is distinguished by a high degree of self-regulation with roots around the turn of the century 1900. Under the threat of state regulation, the labour market parties in the 1930s, and again in the late 1990s, found they had a common interest in self-regulation. The 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement between the blue-collar confederation LO and the employer confederation SAF had its predecessors in the 1905 Engineering Agreement and the December Compromise LO-SAF. Two dimensions of Swedish industrial relations are highlighted: self-regulation (unilateral and bi-partite) versus state regulation and centralization versus decentralization. These can in turn be combined into a four-field table, which is extended to include bipartite regulation between state and unions (state-supported union-run unemployment funds) and tripartite regulation (the 1990-1993 Stabilization Agreements). Advantages and disadvantages of self-regulation are discussed on the basis of an article by Ann Numhauser-Henning, professor of Private Law at Lund University. The Swedish model of bipartite collective self-regulation (in Swedish also labelled partsreglering) is maintained by a high coverage of collective agreements, in turn promoted by the high density of employers' associations and the internationally high union density. Up to the end of the 1930s the rate of unionization among Swedish white-collar workers was very low in many industries. The dominant attitude among private-sector employers was to consider working and employment conditions for white-collar workers as a matter reserved for unilateral employer control. Therefore, in 1931 eight white-collar unions founded Daco (the Confederation of Employees) in order to get the legislation considered necessary to change this situation. Two options were on the agenda as regards the form of legislation. Procedural legislation on the right of association and negotiation best conformed with the Swedish model of self-regulation, but at the same time was exceptional as the blue-collar workers had acquired these rights long ago through their own efforts. In 1936 the Law on Rights of Association and Negotiation was enacted with support from the social democratic government. Although this legislation deviates from the Swedish model of self-regulation, there is a world of difference between negotiated employment conditions (collective bargaining) and substantive legislation on employment conditions, which was the alternative option. In Denmark the turn of events followed a different path as a substantive law for white-collar workers, the funktionærloven, was introduced in 1938. In the absence of negotiation rights, younger Swedish public-sector professional employees in the 1930s and 1940s carried out unilateral actions in the form of mass layoffs and blockades of hiring of new staff combined with refusal to accept wages below a fixed minimum level. The centralization of LO in 1941 may be described as unilateral self-regulation and as a supplement to the Saltsjöbaden Agreement. In 1935 a government commission had recommended the LO to centralize, and the labour market parties to define rules of conduct safeguarding industrial peace. Union centralization in Sweden was quite different from the corresponding processes in Denmark and Norway. Although collective agreements distinguish all Nordic countries, Sweden is in a class of its own with respect to self-regulated wage formation and conflict resolution. A departure from the traditional Swedish model of industrial relations occurred with the series of labour laws introduced in the 1970s. One of the first was the 1971 law on employment protection for elderly employees. The 1997 Industry Agreement between the unions in manufacturing and corresponding SAF associations has clear parallels to the 1938 basic agreement with respect to origin (threat of state regulation), contents (negotiation procedure, conflict resolution) and the spirit of cooperation. The new reinforced National Mediation Office (2000) received, in addition to its mediation role in labour disputes, the task of promoting 'an efficient wage formation process' that meant the appearance of a new mix of self-regulation and state regulation.

The aim of the article is to reveal some aspects state regulation of natural monopoly in Russia, which are of paramount importance in economic and social life of the country. The optimal path to reforming the monopolized industries is currently a very topical question for Russia. The Russian government requires studying the foreign experience in this field and adapting it to the Russian conditions. Almost complete lack of transparency in the pricing of natural monopolies is one of the most important problems in Russia. In this connection, against the background of almost uncontrolled corruption in the country, the decision to increase tariffs for practically all services provided by monopolists, irrespective of the world prices for energy resources, causes distrust and just censures. The inefficient management of the state corporation Gazprom, a significant reduction in taxes transferred to the state budget, has not, until now, been the subject of thorough audit and critical analysis by the relevant government agencies. The Ministry of Energy does not attempt to reform the gas industry, for example, in the likeness of Scandinavian countries, where surprising results have been achieved in the operation of numerous energy suppliers. The increase of tax revenues to the country's budget and the improvement of the quality of life of the population depend on to the scope of reforms of the industry the state will carry out based on a combination of administrative and economic control measures. Methods of investigation used: analysis, synthesis, comparative analysis.