The Dynamics of Asian Labour Markets: Balancing Control and Flexibility / Edition 1

by John Benson, Ying Zhu

Overview

Asia has undergone rapid economic transformation over the past two decades. Despite its constant economic growth, the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and the resulting surge in unemployment highlighted the vulnerability of national systems that base development solely on economic growth.

This book fills a major research gap by exploring the nature, dynamics and functioning of Asian labour markets in eight major Asian economies, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Vietnam, India and Malaysia. It examines the type of labour markets that exist in Asia; how they have responded to globalisation; and how flexible they are to changing social and economic conditions. The book analyses how the current transformation has impacted on the key parties, such as employers, employees, trade unions, governments, organisations and society as a whole, and considers the likely future trends and developments in Asian labour markets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415551113
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/25/2011
Series:	Routledge Studies in the Growth Economies of Asia , #102
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Benson is Professor and Head of the School of Management at the University of South Australia. His recent books include, as editor, Trade Unions in Asia, and, as co-author, Everyday Impact of Economic Reform in China (with Ying Zhu and Michael Webber – both published by Routledge).

Ying Zhu is Professor and Director of the Centre for Asian Business in the International Graduate School of Business at the University of South Australia. He and John Benson co-edited Unemployment in Asia and Trade Unions in Asia, and co-authored Everyday Impact of Economic Reform in China (both published by Routledge).

Table of Contents

1. Labour Markets in Asia: Globalization and Transition 2. Labour Markets in Theory and Practice: Perspectives from Western Industrial Countries 3. Labour Markets in Japan: Change and Continuity 4. Labour Markets in South Korea: Transitions Towards Flexibilities? 5. Labour Markets in Singapore: Flexibility in Adversity 6. Labour Markets in Hong Kong: Changes and Advances after the 1997 Reunification with China 7. Labour Markets in China: Coming to Terms with Globalization 8. Labour markets in Vietnam: Developments under the Economic Reform and Globalization 9. Labour Markets in India: Informality and Inequality 10. Labour Markets in Malaysia: Evolution to a Knowledge-Based Economy? 11. Labour Markets in Asia: A Comparative Analysis

Editorial Reviews

"This useful edited collection, using a series of expert contributors, examines in depth ‘the nature, the dynamics and the functioning of the Asian labour markets’ how they have been influenced by globalization in the past few decades and vis a vis today’s economic travails. The book has a very wide sweep and dissects the fundamentals of labour markets in the specific national context of the major economies of the region." - Malcolm Warner, University of Cambridge; JGM 2011

From the Publisher