ABSTRACT
The structure and content of this textbook are based on four main premises: fi rst, the study of comparative employment relations (CER) has to be set in the context of the global economy and its impact on regional, national and sub-national regulation of the employment relationship. Second, the study of CER must be fi rmly grounded in theory and that is the subject of Chapter 2 where we set out and discuss in detail the theories that will recur throughout the book. Third, a successful CER textbook must include not only accounts of employment relations in selected countries – Part 3 of the book – but also must include genuinely comparative analyses of the main aspects of the employment relationship, hence the fi ve chapters in Part 2. Finally, in order to understand contemporary employment relations in the context of the global economy, we must also analyze forms of employment regulation above the level of the nation state, whether they emanate from multinational corporations (MNCs), regional bodies or international agencies, and these are the topics that comprise the fourth and fi nal part of the book.
