Labour Market Institutions Under Threat? The Case of Working Time

ABSTRACT

This article reviews global debates and trends concerning labour market institutions, with a special reference to working-time regulation in developing countries. It identifies major issues that need to be addressed in order to overcome current neo-liberal critiques of working-time regulations and to develop alternative conceptualisations concerning the role of labour regulation in responding to new circumstances and demands. It is suggested that the deregulation arguments are often exaggerated and questionable, both conceptually and empirically, and that the relationship between working-time regulations and flexibility needs to be conceptualised more adequately.