Vertical New Knowledge Transfer and the Revival of Multi‐Employer Collective Bargaining
Despite decades of dominance of neoliberal policies, multi‐employer bargaining seems to be making a comeback – supported by the OECD, the EU and national governments alike. In a new article in Industrial Relations Journal, Søren Kaj Andersen and Chris F. Wright take a closer look at why multi‐employer bargaining are experiencing renewed interest internationally.
This paper addresses the puzzle of how and why multi‐employer bargaining has revived as a policy idea given the apparent dominance of neoliberalism. Multi‐employer bargaining has emerged as a solution to problems caused by failed neoliberal policies. These solutions have been generated and disseminated through a process of vertical ‘new knowledge’ transfer between international, regional and national governance levels, which local actors have mobilised to influence policy debates and outcomes. We develop these arguments using case studies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's changing position on collective bargaining, the European Union Minimum Wage Directive 2022 that encouraged multi‐ employer bargaining, and bargaining reforms implemented in 2022–24 in Australia. We contribute insights to power resource theory regarding how new knowledge as a distinct form of ideational power is operationalised vertically across different governance levels to resolve localised labour problems.
Read the full article ‘Vertical New Knowledge Transfer and the Revival of Multi‐Employer Collective Bargaining’ by Søren Kaj Andersen and Chris F. Wright, published in Industrial Relations Journal, March 2025.