The Evolution of Labour Law: Calibrating and Comparing Regulatory Regimes

Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, Working Paper No. 352

43 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2007

See all articles by Simon Deakin

Simon Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Priya Lele

Ashurst LLP; University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR)

Mathias Siems

European University Institute (EUI); University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: September 2007

Abstract

We present evidence on the evolution of labour law in five countries (the UK, USA, Germany, France and India) using a newly-created dataset which measures legal change over time. The results cast light on the claim that legal origin, or the influence of common law and civil law regulatory styles, affects the content of labour law regimes. We find some divergence between common law and civil law countries at the aggregate level but a more complex picture when the index is decomposed so as to identify changes in specific areas of labour law. We discuss the potential significance of this relatively new approach to the measurement of law for understanding the forces at work in the evolution of labour law.

Keywords: labour law, labor law, employee protection, legal origin, comparative law, leximetrics, numerical comparative law

JEL Classification: J53, K31, N30, P50

Suggested Citation

Deakin, Simon F. and Lele, Priya P. and Siems, Mathias, The Evolution of Labour Law: Calibrating and Comparing Regulatory Regimes (September 2007). Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, Working Paper No. 352, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1029694 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1029694

Simon F. Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR) ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

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Priya P. Lele

Ashurst LLP ( email )

Broadwalk House
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Great Britain

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR) ( email )

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Mathias Siems (Contact Author)

European University Institute (EUI) ( email )

Via Bolognese 156 (Villa Salviati)
Firenze, 50139
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.eui.eu/siems

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research ( email )

Top Floor, Judge Business School Building
Trumpington Street
Cambridge, CB2 1AG
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/people/research-associates/mathias-m-siems/

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://ecgi.global/users/mathias-siems

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