This book addresses the impact of new technologies, typically discussed under the heading of Industry 4.0. It focuses in particular on the automotive industry which has been at the forefront of introducing new technologies such as industrial robots. It analyses their impact on working conditions and... Find out more

The 18th edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play reports on recent European Union (EU) and national social policymaking, with contributions from leading scholars pointing at attempts to move out of the multiple crises hitting the European Union since 2008. The formidable... Find out more

This book focuses on the economic factors which have impacted on the low-wage economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), over the past twenty years. In this period CEE economies were mostly driven by low-wage based foreign direct investment (FDI). Earlier publications made the case that the... Find out more

China’s global outward foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased substantially over the last decade, with Europe as a key destination. The upsurge in Chinese outward FDI indicates a rebalancing of global political-economic relations, with China and its companies acquiring new roles and gaining... Find out more

The 17th edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play reports on recent EU and national social policymaking, with contributions from leading scholars pointing to a ‘crisis’, the best word to characterize 2015. Tensions in the EU reached an unprecedented level: the migration crisis... Find out more

This book investigates restructuring in the electronics industry and in particular the impact of a ‘Chinese’ labour regime on work and employment practices in the electronics assembly in Europe. It studies Foxconn, the world largest electronics manufacturing service provider and the main assembler... Find out more

This book investigates the role that foreign direct investment (FDI) in central-eastern and southern Europe has played in the post-crisis period, comparing patterns across countries and sectors. An overarching objective of this publication is to assess the extent to which FDI can still be seen as a... Find out more

Production networks in many sectors have become increasingly fragmented. Cutting labour costs by lowering pay, increasing work intensity and/or shifting flexibility costs to workers are just some of the motivations for outsourcing. But it can also be used to circumvent employee representation and... Find out more