Variable Pay

Pay determination has in recent years been characterized by two major trends in industrial relations: decentralization of bargaining and a shift to variable pay. The aim of this comparative study is partly to analyse how differences in institutional and sectoral conditions influence the way in which employers try to resolve their conflicting strategic goals with regard to improving perfomance though incentive-baced variable pay, maintaining control over total cost growth, and meeting employee/un ion demands for social justice and participation. The second question refers to the interaction of variable pay systems and collective bargaining, - To what degree do variable pay systems account for a decline in collective bargaining or changes in t he bargaining system's actual grip on pay (i.e. it's viability and governance capacity)? The project involves research institutes in Austria, Norway and the UK.