Flexibility Reform At The Labour Market Margin In European Countries And Its Revelation

Since the 1980s, in the face of the failure of Keynesian employment policies and the rise of Neo-liberalism employment policies, the rapid development of globalization and the process of deindustrialization and the serious continuous high unemployment rate, on a certain extent, flexibility becomes the common trend of the labour market development in western countries. Nonetheless, the flexibility reform still has other path choices in reality. Generally speaking, the path choice can be separated into the big bang flexibility reform represented by the UK and the USA and the flexibility at the margin reform represented by European countries. Since the end of the 1970s, the labour market reform of flexibility at the margin in European countries experienced the track of pursuing, limitation and the transition from margin towards central. From the point of historical culture, the institutional base and the political feasibility, the labour market reform of flexibility at the margin is the realistic selection by western countries, but it is not the best one. With the speeding development of globalization, the labour market flexibility reform becomes necessary in our country. In fact, on a certain extent, the labour market flexibility reform in our country is similar with that of in European countries since the reform and opening-up policy. Therefore, the studying of the labour market flexibility reform in European countries will bring important revelation on analyzing the reality, the path choice and the developmental tendency of the labour market flexibility reform in our country. Based on the background above, this paper has analyzed the characteristics and developmental experience, the institutional base, the political feasibility and its implementing effects of the flexibility at the margin in European countries. And on this basis, the paper probes into the revelations about our country. The whole article is divided in five parts.Section 1 is about the two choices of labour market flexibility. The labour market flexibility is a concept with multidimensional means, and it includes: Numerical flexibility, Functional flexibility, Time flexibility, Wage flexibility and Financial flexibility. The failure of Keynesian employment policies, the rise of Neo-liberalism employment policies, the rapid development of globalization and the process of deindustrialization and the serious continuous high unemployment rate, on a certain extent, makes flexibility become the common trend of the labour market development in western countries. In reality, there are two different developmental path: the big bang flexibility reform represented by the UK and the USA, and the flexibility at the margin reform represented by European countries. Section 2 introduces the characteristics and experiences of the labour market flexibility at the margin. The labour market flexibility at the margin reform is also called Partial Labor Market Reform or dual Labour Market Reforms. Its essential strategy is the implementation of the labour market flexibility reform under the preservation the stabilization of the central labour market. In other words, deregulate the temporary employment and firing regulation under the circumstance of keeping rigorously the steadiness of permanent employment. Concretely, the labour market flexibility at the margin has three apparent characteristics: deregulation of temporary employment, maintaining the severe regulation of formal employment and marginal groups. Since the end of the 1970s, the labour market reform of flexibility at the margin in European countries experienced the track of pursuing, limitation and the transition from margin towards central.Section 3 provides the root of the labour market reform of flexibility at the margin. Fundamentally speaking, the European countries such as France and Spain have selected the flexible labour market reform rather than the Anglo-American big bang flexibility reform is on the basis of its traditional literature, system foundation, the negative influence of the big bang flexibility reform and the political feasibility of flexibility reform at the margin. Section 4 discusses the effect of the labour market flexibility reform at the margin. On the one hand, it enhances the labour market flexibility and adapts to the requirements of globalization. On the other hand, it has some negative impacts on social-economy. Specifically speaking, the negative impacts include the lasting high unemployment, one-generation working society, the declining productivity, the decrease of the workers'welfare, the further solidifying segmentation of labour market.Section 5, the revelation to our country from the labour market flexibility reform at the margin in European countries. Since the reform and opening-up policy, on a certain extent, the labour market flexibility reform in our country has selected the marginal development path in order to adapt to the gradual reform of our country. So the emergence of the practical problems in the process of the flexibility reform at the margin in our country is similar with that of in European countries. Drawing on the experience of European countries and combining our real instance, we should restrict the flexibility at the margin moderately in future flexible reform and implement the new labour market flexicurity strategy rather than the strategy of the Anglo-American big bang flexibility reform.