Abstract
This issue of Economic and Industrial Democracy is divided into two parts. The first part contains two articles related to plant closures and the role of work organization. The second part is a special issue on aesthetic labour, guest edited by Jan C Karlsson, at Karlstad University.
In the first part, the article ‘Non-union worker representation and the closure of establishments: German evidence on the role of moderating factors’, by Uwe Jirjahn, University of Trier, Germany, discusses the influence of works councils on close-downs of manufacturing firms in Germany. The author argues that the results indicate that moderating factors are important in the relationship between plant closures and works councils. Especially the case of multi-establishment firms suggests that the presence of works councils increases the probability of plant survival.
The second article, ‘Delivering better forms of work organization: Comparing vocational teachers in England, Wales and Norway’, by Caroline Lloyd and Jonathan Payne, both at School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK, explores vocational teachers, and suggests that the Norwegian case might be especially interesting, in terms of levels of autonomy, discretion and decision-making influence. The results further suggest clear national differences in terms of vocational teachers’ autonomy. Especially the role of trust is discussed in the concluding part of the article.
Our guest editor, Jan C Karlsson, Karlstad University, Sweden, introduces the articles in the second part, the special section on aesthetic labour, in a separate guest editorial. The editorial office would like to thank the authors, and the guest editor, for their work on this special issue.