Social relations and adjustments to the crisis: a comparative Franco-British micro-statistical analysis.

Summary This article looks at the behavior of British and French establishments in response to the 2007-2008 crisis, in terms of external flexibility (employment adjustment) and internal flexibility (wage adjustment). It focuses on the type of social relations (and centrally on union presence) prevailing in establishments that have made these adjustments. The analysis is conducted on two highly comparable databases, one British (Wers) and one French (Reponse), both collected in 2011-2012. The results show that, despite different production fabrics and exposure to the crisis, institutions that are often presented as opposed, and distinct modes of adjustment (more internal in Great Britain and external in France), the social relations characterizing French and British establishments that have made such adjustments appear surprisingly similar. All other things being equal, these industrial relations take the form of a more marked union presence, more frequent negotiations or consultations and more likely collective disputes. Thus, open social relations seem to have accompanied the adjustments of firms in both countries to cope with the crisis. While the presence of trade unions may have moderated the extent of these adjustments for the benefit of employees (a question that the data do not allow to be examined), it does not appear in any case to have been sufficient to prevent them. The differences between the modes of adjustment observed in the two countries (relatively more often through wages in Great Britain than in France) seem to have more to do with the monetary policy situation than with labour market institutions.