Research Outputs
Research news
- Dr Christoph Görtz won British Academy Small Grant (£10,000) as PI together with John Tsoukalas (University of Glasgow).
- Dr Vivek Soundararajan’s PhD work (‘Understanding the Construction of Work Conditions in Small and Medium Sized Firms in Developing Nations – The Case of Indian Small and Medium Sized Garment Exporting Firms’) has received an 'honourable mention' from Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), USA. LERA is the singular organization in the country where professionals interested in all aspects of labor and employment relations network to share ideas and learn about new developments, issues, and practices in the field.
- Dr Geraint Harvey’s study on behalf of the European Transport Workers’ Federation and European Commission was presented at the European Economic and Social Committee public hearing on ‘Social Dumping in the Civil Aviation Sector’ on 16 April (by his co-author Professor Peter Turnbull, Cardiff University) and featured at the European Parliament public hearing on Thursday 7 May.
Publications
- Find publications from previous news articles
Journal articles (alphabetical order)
LATEST:
Ercolani M.G., Vohra R.S., Carmichael F., Mangat K., Alderson D. (2015) “The lifetime cost to English students of borrowing to invest in a medical degree: a gender comparison using data from the Office for National Statistics” British Medical Journal Open doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007335 vol. 5, issue 4.
This research’s aim was to evaluate this impact on male and female English medical graduates by estimating the total time and amount repaid on loans taken out with the UK's Student Loans Company (SLC). It shows that medical graduates on an average salary are unlikely to repay their SLC debt in full. This is a consequence of higher university fees and as SLC debt is written off 30 years after graduation. This results in the average female graduate repaying more when debt is low, but a lower amount when debt is high compared to male graduates.
Hodder, A. (2015) ‘Young and unionised in the UK? Insights from the public sector’, Employee Relations: The International Journal, 37 (3): 314-328.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between trade unions and young workers in the UK using the Young Members’ Network of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union as a case study. Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 20 full-time officials and 39 lay officials of all ages, the collection and analysis of primary documents and observations at a range of union meetings. It is argued that PCS has developed a strong network of young activists and is leading the way in terms of engaging with and representing young workers. However, its success in the future may be limited due to changes to the external environment in which the union is trying to organise.
Hodder, A. (2015) ‘Employment relations in the UK civil service’, Personnel Review, 44 (5).
This paper provides a general review of civil service reform and subsequent trade union responses in the United Kingdom. Whilst much has been written about civil service reform, this is predominantly from a political viewpoint, often ignoring the industrial relations implications of restructuring. Where industrial relations academics have engaged with the civil service, they tend to focus on structural issues and somewhat surprisingly, detailed accounts of union responses are often neglected. Missing from the literature is an overview of civil service restructuring and its implications for trade unionism. This paper provides an outline of civil service reform before analysing union responses.
Hodder, A. and Edwards, P. K. (2015) ‘The essence of trade unions – understanding identity, ideology and purpose’, Work, Employment and Society, Published online before print April 27, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0950017014568142
Academics have long investigated trade union behaviour through the complex interaction of identity, ideology and purpose. At the same time, there have been increasing calls to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of strategies but the two bodies of literature seldom overlap. The article proposes a framework to help understand the essence of trade unions and to situate strategies (such as organizing) in this broader context and bridge the gap between the literature on union purpose and identity and on strategies for renewal. It is argued that the essence of unions framework can assist with the analysis of both historical and contemporary trade unionism and allows both clarification and consideration of the range of concepts and terms already in use in the industrial relations literature.
Books
LATEST:
Hodder, A. and Kretsos, L. (eds.) (2015) Young Workers and Trade Unions: A Global View, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
In most cases young workers all over the world carry out low-paid, low-status and insecure work. As their position in the labour market becomes increasingly precarious, one may expect them to join unions to get more protection. Nevertheless most young workers remain disengaged from trade union activity and trade unions are struggling with the loss of members and an increasing ageing effect. Young Workers and Trade Unions provides an understanding of the processes in which unions engage with young people and the views and opinions young people hold relating to collective representation. One of the key strengths of the collection is the selection of specific national cases of high relevance to contemporary debates of precariousness, trade union revitalization strategies and austerity policies.
Reports
LATEST:
Sanderson J, Lonsdale C, Mannion R, Matharu T. Towards a framework for enhancing procurement and supply chain management practice in the NHS: lessons for managers and clinicians from a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature. Health Serv Deliv Res 2015;3 (18). DOI 10.3310/hsdr03180.
This review provides intelligence to NHS managers and clinicians involved in commissioning and procurement of non-pay goods and services. It does this in the light of ongoing pressure for the NHS to save money through a combination of cost cutting, productivity improvements and innovation in service delivery, and in the context of new commissioning structures developing as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
Future events
Some of the key events still to come this year from the Financial Resilience Research Cluster:
- 17 June 2015: ‘The Five @ Five’, 5 – 6 pm, consisting of 5 speakers outlining their current projects in one hour.
- September 2015: Special Session on ‘Money and Monetary Policy’, Money, Macro and Finance Research Group Annual Conference, Cardiff.
- 28 October 2015: Maxwell Fry Global Finance Lecture, Professor David Lewellyn, Loughborough University.
- 25 November 2015: Seminar - Douglas Cummings, Schulich School of Business, York University.
- A sandpit to fund interdisciplinary research in the FR Cluster has been suggested for autumn 2015.
- Special Journal issues arising from the FR Cluster Launch event and four special sessions in Financial Resilience for our Cluster members plus affiliate members to be held at the Western Economic Society Annual Conference (WEAI 2016) Oregon USA for a special issue of either Journal of International Money and Finance or Journal of Banking and Finance.