ABSTRACT
The main aim of this chapter is to build typologies of industrial relations systems and labor markets in the European Union. Based on data provided by Eurostat and ICTWSS (Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts), empirical analyses were conducted. Use of the ORCLUS subspace clustering algorithm made it possible to identify four distinct groups of countries among the EU member states that share a similar set of institutional traits. Cluster 1, labeled the Anglo-Saxon cluster in-line with earlier research, encompasses only two countries: United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. Cluster 2, labeled the continental model, comprises almost all EU14 countries except the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece and Portugal. Cluster 3, labeled statist, includes two old EU member states (Greece and Portugal) and four CEE economies (the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Slovenia). Cluster 4, labeled the deregulated model, comprises seven CEE countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia). The major variables that determine the specifics of individual clusters are collective agreement coverage, trade union density and government intervention in the sphere of industrial relations. Despite a popular belief that trade unions are in crisis and the tradition of collective agreements remains weaker, both institutions still influence the shape of the system of industrial relations and its importance for the labor market situation.
