Employer Associations in Europe – a comparative analysis of employer strategies in Denmark and UK

Abstract

In the article we focus on analysing employers, their forms of organization and their influence in relation to developments in national employment relations systems. The analysis has a double aim. Firstly we focus on the forms of organization among business and employers. We identify and analyse characteristics about employers’ forms of organization (e.g. domaine representation), their participation in collective bargaining etc. Secondly we identify how employers and their associations have tried to influence the development of national employment relations systems. The article has a comparative starting point, examining the forms of organization in two European countries: Denmark and Great Britain. These countries are chosen as case studies because they represent different types of employment relation systems. The UK represents a more liberal-oriented variation of the employment relation systems, while Denmark represents the more cooporative and part-based system of employment relations.