This paper critically analyses the background and impacts of the promulgation of three new labour laws in China in 2008. Drawing on qualitative data collected from interviews with various actors, the paper illustrates how the enactment of these laws has led to the emergence of new actors in the labour market and employment relations. Whilst not all these actors are new, or equally influential, ...

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly developed policy guidelines for improving health workers' access to HIV and TB prevention, treatment, care and support services. These 14-point policy guidelines support the key principles of the International Labour Standard concerning HIV and AIDS in the world of work adopted in 2010. The joint guideli...

BACKGROUND Both active smoking and environmental tobacco smoke exposure are associated with pregnancy complications. In March 2006, Scotland implemented legislation prohibiting smoking in all wholly or partially enclosed public spaces. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of this legislation on preterm delivery and small for gestational age. METHODS AND FINDINGS We conducted logi...

In 1997 the New Labour government launched major initiatives in the area of financial regulation, consolidating regulation under a new Financial Services Authority and enacting new legislation that was proclaimed to be ‘light-touch’ and yet comprehensive. The new regime, widely admired in its initial years, came to be severely tested by the events of global financial crisis that started in 2007...

This article presents updated indicators of employment protection legislation for several central and eastern European countries according to OECD methodology. Common patterns and outliers are identified and additional information is provided to interpret correctly the strictness of the regulatory environment. The aim is to provide some hard evidence for the debate regarding the interface betwe...

Two issues; the liberalisation of labour markets and monetary unification, have taken centre stage in policy debates on the future of the European Union. We show that both have the effect of raising capital mobility as well as labour-market flexibility. The reduction of exchange-rate fluctuations reduces the cost of both entering a market – by setting up companies and hiring new employees – as ...

Informal employment is a pervasive and persistent feature of most developing and developed economies. Labour taxation and labour market regulations are deemed two major causes for operating in the informal sector. Using data from France, Italy, and Spain, we analyse gross job flows and gross worker flows in the formal and informal sectors in the presence of lenient employment protection legisla...