Competition and Constraint. Economic Globalization and Human Resource Practices in 23 European Countries

Employee Relations (Forthcoming)

34 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2015 Last revised: 18 Sep 2015

See all articles by Ferry Koster

Ferry Koster

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences

Rafael Wittek

University of Groningen

Date Written: September 7, 2015

Abstract

Economic globalization is often considered to be one of the main causes of recent changes in the workplace and the way in which organizations manage their human resources. Nevertheless, an empirical study putting this claim to the test by relating the internationalization of the economy to the use of human resource practices has not been conducted to date. This article investigates the effects of economic globalization by examining how three central dimensions of human resource practices, namely (1) discretion, (2) skills, and (3) closeness of supervision are related to the level of trade openness of countries. We formulate three hypotheses. The first hypothesis argues that trade openness requires investments in human resource practices to remain competitive. The second hypothesis states that trade openness constrains the possibilities for investments in human resource practices. The third hypothesis combines hypotheses 1 and 2, leading to the prediction that there is a curvilinear relation (a reversed U) between trade openness and human resource practices. The hypotheses are tested using employee data from 26 European countries. The results from the multilevel analyses shows evidence for a negative and a curvilinear relation between trade openness and human resource practices and no positive relations was found.

Keywords: Globalization, Human Resource Management, Cross-National Comparison

JEL Classification: O15, M54

Suggested Citation

Koster, Ferry and Wittek, Rafael, Competition and Constraint. Economic Globalization and Human Resource Practices in 23 European Countries (September 7, 2015). Employee Relations (Forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2657124

Ferry Koster

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.ferrykoster.nl

Rafael Wittek (Contact Author)

University of Groningen ( email )

Department of Sociology
Grote Rozenstraat 31
Groningen, 9712TG
Netherlands
+31503636282 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rafaelwittek.eu/

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