ABSTRACT
This chapter examines distinctive models of work and employment as they existed in the postwar era, and addresses the extent to which – and how – these models have been altered or even transformed by the developments of the neoliberal era. It focuses on the models that became predominate in the core sectors of four nations: the USA, Great Britain, Japan, and Germany. The chapter considers cross-national differences in predominant work and employment practices associated with these regimes, and the changes therein to be products of the national institutional environments within which they are embedded. By the early decades of the twentieth century, work and employment practices had come to reflect this reality. In addition to coercive and often violent union avoidance practices, large employers came to apply scientific management principles to the design of work. In contrast to their US counterparts, British employers had a tradition of voluntarily recognizing unions.
