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Mahmood, Zaad (2012) Globalisation, policy convergence and labour market: thepolitical economy of reforms. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/16811 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Globalisation, Policy Convergence and Labour Market: the political economy of reforms ZAAD MAHMOOD Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Politics 2012 Department of Politics and International Studies School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Word Count: 75596 1 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work that I present for examination. Signed: ____ Zaad Mahmood ______ Date: _____30 August 2012_____ 2 Dedicated to the memory of my father and future of my daughter To Babuji and Raisha 3 Acknowledgement Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate This thesis would not have been possible without the help of many caring people whose contributions in different aspects helped create it. It is a pleasure to express gratitude to some of them in my humble acknowledgment. First, I would like to thank my research supervisor Dr. Lawrence Saez, for his advice and support from the beginning of this research until fruition. It has been an educative, thought-provoking, and above all self-actualising experience as his PhD student. This thesis would not have been possible without his guidance, patience, and encouragement. I am also indebted to my research committee, especially Dr. Tat Yan Kong for his insightful comments and Dr. Laleh Khalili for pastoral care. The right advice and support of my research committee have been invaluable both in academic as well as personal sphere, for which I am extremely grateful. I also thankfully acknowledge the comments and discussions with department faculty and colleagues at seminars and informal meetings. My time at SOAS was enjoyable in large parts due to my friends not all of whom can be mentioned due to paucity of space and memory. They have been a source of sound advice but more importantly pillar of strength during the troughs and partners of celebration during my PhD. I am extremely grateful to James Sunday and Andrea Valente for their support and friendship. I am also grateful for time spent with Konstantinos Tsimonis, Silvia Ferabolli, Priyadarshini Singh, Mehr F. Hussain, Aditya Menon, Anwesha Ray, Elizabeth Munro, Leftaris Zampoulakis, Jaycob Baylon, Ritanjan Das and Zia Foley who helped me grow both academically as well as personally. I would like to express personal gratitude to Niladri Chatterji for being the best housemate and my family away from home. Without him, this journey would have been long, lonely, and half as fun. 4 I also thank my friends in Kolkata especially Advocate Priyankar Deb Sarkar who helped to codify labour amendments, Dr. Md. Zakaria Siddiqui at University of South Australia and Deblina Mazumdar at IDSK for assistance in doing the regression. I am aware of their efforts in helping a novice in statistical analysis like me to carry out the regressions. An individual thank goes out to Dr. Subhanil Choudhury for taking the time to read and comment on my thesis. He has been an ardent supporter contributing immensely with appropriate suggestions. I must also acknowledge my teachers Dr. Rakhahari Chatterji and Dr. Satyabrata Chakraborty, both Professors at Calcutta University for introducing me to political economy and encouraging me to conduct research. In India during fieldwork, Dr. Alakh Sharma of Indian Society of Labour Economics, Dr. M.M. Rahman at V.V. Giri Institute of Labour research, the national labour federations, business associations, and labour bureaucracy at the sub-national states immensely aided the research. This study drew upon their knowledge and experience, and I appreciate the individual contributions of my interviewees who are too numerous to be named. I also acknowledge the knowledge and insight gained from conversations with academics involved with labour issues especially Dr. K.R. Shyam Sundar, Dr. Jesim Pais, Dr. Ghanshyam Shah, Dr. Prasenjit Bose, Dr. Narasimha Reddy, and Dr. Ramkrishna Chattopadhyay. I thank the funding agencies whose generosity made my PhD research at SOAS possible. I sincerely thank the Felix Foundation and the anonymous benefactors who have helped many like me to pursue higher education in globally renowned institutes. I would also like to thank University of London Central Research Fund for fieldwork support. In thanking financial benefactors, it is necessary to recognise the academic and technical support of the School of Oriental and African Studies and its staff, especially the postgraduate research 5 section. In particular, I would like to mention Dr. Marcus Cerny, Alicia Sales Fernandez and Laura Jacobs for ensuring friendly and caring University experience. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for all their love and encouragement. My parents deserve a special recognition for their care and invaluable support. My Father, Mohiuddin Ahmed wanted me to pursue PhD degree. Although he was there to see me off as I ventured into research, he is no longer around to see the end of this journey. I dedicate this thesis to his memory. My Mother, Khadematul Moula who has raised me with sincerity and love and my brother Saad Mahmood has immense contribution in what I am today. I would not have been where I am today without my family. I also acknowledge the love, care and support of Rabeena Kamal, my wife. Her dedication and sustained faith allowed me to pursue academics uninhibited by familial concerns. Without her support, this research would not be possible. My family has given me unequivocal support throughout, as always, for which my mere expression of thanks does not suffice. In conclusion, I would like to express my apology that I could not mention everyone personally and take full responsibility for any errors or inadequacies that may remain in this work. 30 August 2012 Zaad Mahmood 6 Abstract This dissertation shows the relevance of political agency under conditions of globalisation through a sub-national comparative study of labour market reforms. The study builds upon existing literature by highlighting ‘relative autonomy’ of political actors and dynamics in determining policy and outcome. Such an assertion contradicts the purely structuralist interpretations of reform and asserts that forces of globalisation can be negotiated by domestic political actors. Based on the study of labour flexibility the dissertation argues that political variables, specifically partisan orientation and nature of party competition, influence the pace and direction of reforms producing sub-national variations. As revealed governments backed by a relatively homogenous dominant support base with business representation undertake greater labour market reforms compared to governments with heterogeneous base. The difference in orientation to reform is due to differences in distributive and redistributive pressures emanating from support base. Another important finding of this research concerns the impact of party competition on reforms. Contrary to conventional understanding that fragmentation impedes reforms, the case study, reveals that fragmentation in the party system facilitates labour market reforms. The result indicate that the impact of political fragmentation on reform is not generic, and intermediate factors such as configuration of electoral cleavages influence the relation. In sum, the dissertation argues that variations in strength of interest groups i.e. trade unions and business, the nature of party competition and configuration of electoral groups combine to produce variation in reforms. Although such a claim cannot undermine the increased relevance of market forces consequent upon globalisation, theoretically, it does point out that reforms emerge in the interrelation between economic considerations vis-à-vis political imperatives. Public policy under conditions of globalisation is shaped not merely by economic concerns but mirrors social trade-offs and varieties of social configuration. 7 Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................14 1. Globalisation and public policy ...............................................................................14 1.1 Globalisation and policy convergence................................................................14

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