Labor Relations through a Comparative
Institutional Lens
比较制度视野下的劳动关系
Diane F Frey, PhD
Project Director ALR China Project
Murphy Institute,
City University of New York
Overview
• Background
个人背景
• Puzzle that prompted my research
我的研究出发点
• Introduction to Institutions Theory and how it can help us
understand labor markets as institutions
简介制度理论，并介绍它将如何帮助我们理解
劳动市场
• Some examples of institutions and analysis of labor markets
例子与分析
Background
个人背景
• Trade Unionist 20+ years with many different unions and
workers including immigrants, low-paid, also professionals
such as doctors, nurses, teachers, university professors.
20多年工会工作经验，服务人群包括移民、低收
入工作者，也包括医生、护士、教师、大学教授
等从业者。
Background
个人背景
• Union success has become harder to achieve because
employers have so much power in the U.S.
在美国，由于雇主的权力急速膨胀，工会已经
很难取得实质性工作进展。
• Sometimes the “rules” and “laws” that are supposed
to protect workers have either no impact or opposite
impact.
那些本应保护工人利益的法律与法规常常作用
缺位，甚至起到反作用。
The Immigrant Janitor Example
Boston, SEIU Pre-Strike
一则门卫的例子
移民；波士顿；服务业雇员国际工会罢工前
• 无证移民；来自萨尔瓦多；门卫工人；Manny；35岁
• 无法找到全职工作；三份兼职；每份4小时；同一公司、
非正式、使用不同名字、三份薪水
• 每天工作12小时，一周五天共计60小时；仍旧被视为非全
职，无福利
• 40小时正常工作时间外无加班费
• 我在不同大楼里碰到他，注意到他使用不同姓名标牌
Immigrant Janitor Example Continued
门卫的例子（续）
• 当门卫工会逐渐强大起来、会员对工会更有信心
时，Manny开口提出了要求在同一名字下工作并
提高福利和加班待遇的要求
• 他的境遇使我很感兴趣：在美国，法律规定，每
周工作超过40小时就要以每小时原薪水的一半支
付加班费。Manny通过和低级管理人员签订非正
式协议，使自己不受该法律保护。
• 当工会强大起来，他就敢于寻求法律保护。
Setting out to research my puzzle
我的研究
• 在Richard Hyman的帮助下，我开始了我的
交叉学科研究
• 理论框架：经济学的制度理论(Institutions
from Economics)，与国际关系中的遵守理论
(Compliance Theory from International
Relations)
• 目标：创造一种工具，用来以比较视角审
视不同劳动市场中的劳工权益
(help investigate labor rights in different labor markets from comparative perspective.)
Institutions Theory (Ostrom, North)
制度理论
• Formal & Informal Rules
正式与非正式“游戏规则”
• Labor Markets are not simply supply and demand curves but
sets of formal and informal rules that govern relationships.
劳动市场并非简单的供需关系曲线；一系
列正式与非正式规则主导着劳动市场
• Labor rights can be examined and analyzed as institutions by
looking closely at their components.
可以通过审视其对立面，来以制度的视角
审视劳工权益
Formal Institutions
正式制度
Formal institutional grammar: (laws, policies, regulations)
正式的制度语法：法律、政策、法规
Who: 法规适用于谁(to whom the rule applies)
What:表达“允许、强调义务、禁止”等意义的动词 +
与动词相匹配的行为
(verbs that permit, obligate, forbid) + (the actions/outcomes to which the
verbs apply)
When: 定义时间、地点、方式、与程度的情景
(conditions defining when, where, how and to what extent the action or
outcome is permitted, obligatory or forbidden)
Incentive: “否则”条款，界定处罚
(the ‘or else’ statement defining the sanctions and penalties to be imposed
for not following the rule)
Institutional Statements
are Formally Acted Upon (or not)
被正式执行的制度化陈述
阐释Interpretation: 权威裁定某条款是否被违反
Authoritative decisions on whether the rule has been violated.
强制执行Enforcement: 不遵守带来的处罚机制
Application of the corresponding incentive or sanction-raising the cost of noncompliance. Rules about enforcement govern monitoring, procedures and
mechanisms that increase or decrease probability of sanctions being
imposed.
U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act
美国公平劳动标准法案
(FLSA 1937)
Who: Employers engaged interstate commerce
who employ certain categories of workers
(“non-exempt workers”). 从事州际贸易、雇用
某些类别工人的雇主（“非特例员工”）
What: must pay them 1 ½ times their normal
hourly rate of pay.必须支付一点五倍时薪
When: for every hour worked over 40 hours in a
week.每周工作超过40小时后起
Penalties: Fines and Back-pay罚款及补薪
Complexity of FLSA Formal Institutions
FLSA正式制度的复杂性
• An estimated 50 million out 120 million workers “exempt”
from FLSA in 1998.
1998年，1.2亿工人中的5千万被列为“特例”
• Exemptions from FLSA coverage are based on nature of
work: administrative, independent contractors, public
employees etc.
FLSA规定的“特例”取决于工作性质：行政、独立承包
商、公共雇员等
• Employers are not required to pay “exempt” employees
overtime for their work after 40 hours.
对于“特例”范围内的雇员，雇主不必支付超时工资
• Heavy reliance on court interpretations to determine if
employees are exempt (salary basis, duties, salary level).
对于雇员是否属于“特例”，法庭的阐释具有重大作用，
如工资基础、职务、工资水平等。
Formal Institutions Conclusion
正式制度：总结
 Institutional statements result from power struggles over
legislation, policies & regulations.
制度化陈述起源于与法律、政策、法规相抗衡的
力量
 Formal institutions can never be completely clear and
unambiguous. Informal behaviors in response to the rules
also matter!
正式制度永远不可能排除所有模糊地带、做到完
全清晰，因此，规则下的非正式的行为同样重要！
Informal Institutions
非正式制度
并非由正式立法机关通过生效，但他们确实存在，
如社会排斥，名誉损失和报复等形式
• 社会规范Social Norms:
不以身边他人个别行为而转移的社会价值，建立在
该价值上的审慎行为（prudential behavior ）
• 社会习俗Social Conventions:
社会成员共同分享的某种行为期待，建立在他人同
样遵守的基础上（shared expectations about behavior.
Adherence depends on the adherence of others.）
Formal and Informal Institutions Interact
(Helmke and Levitsky 2003)
正式与非正式制度间的互动
• Even if formal institutions are flawed, respect for labor rights
can prevail if there are strong supportive social norms and
social conventions.
尽管正式制度总有缺陷，但如果社会规范与社会习俗能够
提供强有力支持，劳工权益一样可以得到保障
• Even if formal institutions are perfect, respect for labor rights
can be undermined if there are strong social norms and social
conventions contrary to the formal institutions.
就算正式制度是完美的，如果社会规范与社会习俗与之相
违背，劳工权益也会受到损害
Institutions from other Realms of Social Life
其他领域社会权益引出的制度
• Institutions from seemingly unrelated parts of social life also
interact with formal and informal institutions.
从社会生活中其他看似不相关的领域也会产生
与劳工领域互动的制度
• Example (Manny) immigration institutions impact labor
market institutions such as overtime pay.
Manny的例子，如加班薪酬
• Institutional complementarities mean that institutions work
together strengthening and amplifying their influence.
Example: immigration+ minimum wage setting rules + gender.
制度互补：如移民+最低薪酬制度+性别
Institutional Hierarchies
制度的阶层
• Institutional hierarchy occurs when one institution
imposes its logic on and influences other institutions.
当某一制度其逻辑与影响足以凌驾于其他
制度之上，制度的阶层就产生了
• Example-neoliberal ideas about “entrepreneurs must be free
of regulation” or “markets must be unfettered” Actually it
takes a lot of institutional will and power to create powerful
employers.
如：新自由主义观点中，企业家必须是自由的、市场必须
不受约束；而实际上强大的企业主通常拥护制度化。
Using Institutions to
Explore Labor Markets
利用制度视角探索劳动市场
For any given labor market regulation we can ask:
• Did the formal institutional rule(s) come from one source or
multiple sources of legislation and regulation?
正式的制度规则是来自单一的权力来源还是多个来源？
• Were the rules contested by employers? What
compromises were made in establishing the formal
institutional statement?
企业主对这些规则有没有争议？在确立这些正式制度时，
制定者是否做出过妥协？
• Are there ambiguities or contradictions in the formal
institutional statements?
这些正式制度中是否有模糊、甚至自相矛盾的地方？
• How certain are the sanctions for violations for employers?
相关的处罚有多明确？
Using Institutions to
Explore Labor Markets
利用制度视角探索劳动市场
• Do social norms and/or social conventions support or
undermine the legitimacy of the rule(s)?
社会规范与社会习俗是支持还是削弱了正式制度的
合法性？
• Are there incentives that remain for workers to
continue to accept violations of the rule(s)?
工人是否存在一些动机，去持续接受正式制度不被
遵守的事实？
• Are there other institutional arrangements that
influence the effective implementation of the rule(s)?
是否存在影响某正式制度有效执行的其他相关制度
安排？
Overtime in Honduras
洪都拉斯的超时工作
• Normal Work Hours Law (44) does not establish limits. Limits are not
explicit. Groups of workers are exempt from the limits based on vague
definitions. There are no specific sanctions for violations. Enforcement
procedures are slow.
没有明确时间限制的定义；处罚条款模糊；强制执行程序低效
• Harsh social conventions: Employers retaliate against workers who
complain. Use of production quotas and deadlines rather than hours.
Offer of hours off rather than overtime pay.
很强的社会习俗：雇主报复抱怨的员工；生产定额与时限制度；提供
休假但无加班费
• Government is a champion of legitimacy of long hours as means to rapid
development.
为了经济高速发展，政府支持长时间工作的合法性
• Minimum wage setting lags cost of living so that workers need to work as
many hours as possible.
为了足够的生活开支，员工必须尽可能多工作
• Government prioritizes attracting foreign capital.
政府将吸引外资放在首位
Overtime in Dominican Republic
多米尼加共和国的超时工作
• Excellent, perfect formal institutional rules on
obligatory overtime. Every ILO recommendation is
implemented into law.
完美的正式制度规定
• Laws are not enforced.
法律并不被执行
• Similar social conventions to Honduras and social
conventions are stronger than laws.
与洪都拉斯类似，社会习俗的效力强于正式法律
• Government is silent on social norms does not
celebrate overtime as means to development.
Varieties of Work Time Institutions
多国工作时间制度
正常工作周
Normal Work Week
最高工作时长
Maximum Work
Hours
每日/周最短休息
时间
Minimum
Daily/Weekly Rest
限制工作时间的主
要方法
Dominant Method
of Work-time limits
USA
EU
Japan
40
40
48 (averaged over
17 weeks)
None
48 (averaged over
17 weeks)
40 regular plus 15
overtime
11 consecutive
hours per day, 1 day
per week
1 day off per week
Hours Limits
Hours Limits &
Over-Time
Premium Pay
None
Over-Time
Premium Pay
China
中国
• What are the formal institutional rules limiting
work time in China?
规定工作时长的正式有哪些？
• Are there informal social norms and social
conventions that support or undermine the
formal institutional rules?
有没有任何社会规范与社会习俗支持/削弱
了正式制度？
Final Thoughts
总结
• Many diverse institutional arrangements can result in
the same outcome.许多差异化的制度安排会产生相
同的效果
• Figure out the outcome you want (Goal) with respect
to labor rights (labor market institutions).
制定理想的制度规则，充分尊重劳工权益
• Recognize that all the institutional elements matter.
Multiple mutually reinforcing interventions are
necessary.
制定理想的制度规则时，要充分考虑整体制度因素，
要制定相辅相成的制度体系
• There is no one right path to the outcome.
没有唯一正确的道路
THANK YOU!