What role can minimum wages play in overcoming the low-wage model in central and eastern Europe?

This working paper presents the results of the ETUI Internet and Platform Work Survey conducted in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia in 2018-2019. The objective is to map the extent of digital labour in central and eastern Europe (CEE) based on the analysis of two types of online sources for generating income: internet work; and its... Find out more

This new working paper explores why there is a persistent wage gap between western Europe and the new EU Member States of eastern and central Europe. Why is it still the case that after 27 years of transition from state socialism and 14 years of EU membership the closing of the gap in living standards between western Europe and eastern and central... 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 potential of this growth engine has been exhausted and... Find out more

This working paper investigates wage differences across Europe. It estimates to what extent wage gaps in average wages observed between countries are related to differences in workforce composition, in workplaces, as well as the types of jobs conducted in different countries. This report also assesses the observed differences in returns on... Find out more

SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe SEER, Volume 20 (2017), Issue 2, ISSN: 1435-2869, ISSN online: 1435-2869, https://doi.org/10.5771/1435-2869-2017-2 Browse Volumes and Issues: SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe Find out more

This book provides a detailed account of the innovative practices pursued by trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe since 2008. The book covers eleven post-socialist states that joined the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It looks at these... Find out more

This working paper looks at wage developments in central and eastern Europe (CEE) over the past twenty years and shows that wages are not only low compared to western Europe but, as demonstrated by a number of variables, also tend to be lower than what the economic potential of these countries would allow for. It demonstrates that from the mid-90s... Find out more

This working paper discusses the use of unit labour costs (ULC) by the European Commission as a measure of competitiveness of exports, especially in central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It shows the flawed nature of the European Commission’s argument that increasing wages ahead of measured productivity would necessarily represent a threat to export... Find out more

Over a quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall and 10 years after their accession to the European Union (EU), Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEECs) still show marked differences with the rest of Europe in the fields of labour, work and industrial relations. This book presents a detailed and original analysis of labour and... Find out more

Transfer stimulates dialogue between the European trade union movement and the academic and research community. It contributes research findings on issues of strategic relevance for trade unions, in particular with regard to developments at the European level. Transfer publishes original peer-reviewed research on issues such as new developments in... Find out more

Minimum wages continue to stir controversial policy debates. This study contributes to a better understanding of minimum wages by providing a solid empirical assessment of minimum wage policies and their socio-economic consequences for a range of European countries. In addition to qualitative differences between minimum wage systems, the report... Find out more

In this Policy Brief Thorsten Schulten – researcher at the WSI in the Hans-Böckler Foundation and widely acknowledged as one of Europe’s foremost expert on the subject – analyses recent trends in minimum wages across Europe in the light of the economic crisis. In most European countries, workers earning the minimum wage suffered losses – in some... Find out more

The REACH Regulation which lays down the rules for marketing and using chemicals in Europe is undoubtedly one of the most far-reaching legislative reforms of the last twenty years. It enhances European competitiveness while giving improved protection to human health and the environment. The unions had a big hand in framing the legislation and... Find out more

SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe SEER, Volume 13 (2010), Issue 4, ISSN: 1435-2869, ISSN online: 1435-2869, https://doi.org/10.5771/1435-2869-2010-4 Browse Volumes and Issues: SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe Find out more

This book edited by Christina Klenner and Simone Leiber and first published in German, focuses on developments in the welfare states of the ten Central and Eastern European EU member states in the transformation process some 20 years after the end of state socialism. It also explores the shifts in gender relationships and inequalities, and tries to... Find out more

In this, the fourth ETUI Policy Brief in 2009, the impact of the economic and financial crisis on Central and Eastern Europe is examined. Five years after EU enlargement, the new member states have been hit hard, contrary to initial hopes that their previous strong growth would make them immune. Bela Galgoczi, Senior researcher at the ETUI, shows... Find out more

This book examines the transformation of the state in Central and Eastern Europe since the end of communism and adoption of market oriented reform in the early 1990s, exploring the impact of globalization and economic liberalization on the region’s states, societies and political economy. It compares the different policies and national strategies... Find out more

This volume presents, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of national minimum wage systems in Europe and the USA. The study, coordinated by the Economic and Social Sciences Institute (WSI) in the Hans Böckler Foundation, contains studies of countries such as Great Britain, Ireland, the Benelux countries, France, Spain, the states of... Find out more