How has OECD thinking on labour markets and collective bargaining changed over time?

This seminar was filmed during the conference "Modern labour markets Trade unions, social dialogue and productivity" 3 June 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden. Due to a technical error we could not record Alexander Hijzens presentation. Since the 1990´s OECD has nuanced its view on the functioning of labour markets. At the start of this period, focus was almost only on increased flexibility in terms of weakened employment protection, more fixed term contracts, reduced replacement rates in the employment insurance, and individual and local wage bargaining. Trade unions, collective agreements and social dialogue was more or less only seen as obstacles for the labour market to function efficiently. But along the lines of the research that focus on how labour markets actually work, OECD has gradually emphasized that efficient labour markets can be created in different ways. Trade unions, collective agreements and social dialogue can therefore contribute to economic efficiency. When employers have wage setting power, employment and productivity are hurt. Presentations: Sandrine Cazes is a senior economist at OECD. Her research is focused on comparative labour markets, social dialogue and wage bargaining. Alexander Hijzen is a senior economist at OECD. His research is focused on a broad set of labour market issues. Among other things, he is a regular contributor to OECD´s Employment Outlook. Panel: Sandrine Cazes, senior economist at OECD. Alexander Hijzen, senior economist at OECD. Roger Mörtvik, Consultant, former State Secretary, . Patrick Joyce, Chief Economist, Almega. Adnan Habibija, Senior Economic Policy Advisor , TUAC. Oskar Nordström Skans, Professor in Economics, Uppsala University. Moderator: Elinor Odeberg, Chief Economist, Arena Idé.