All in it together? The unlikely rebirth of Covid Corporatism

Steve Coulter

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The battle to soften the labour market impact of the pandemic has thrown up some unlikely bedfellows, with trade union leaders competing with business chiefs over who can most fulsomely praise the government’s economic response. But does this entente really presage a new era of ‘Covid‐corporatism’? Crises like Covid‐19 can provide opportunities for temporary social pacts, even in countries lacking the labour market institutions needed to sustain these in normal times, and the ‘social partners’ have shown an unusual willingness to be bold and constructive. But cracks are already appearing over how and when the state should begin its withdrawal from the economy. Unions face structural weaknesses and recruitment problems that will hamper their ability to take full advantage of what will likely prove to be only a temporary lull in hostilities.

Keywords: Covid-19; corporatism; social partnership; varieties of capitalism; stakeholder capitalism; coronavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 J1 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8 pages
Date: 2020-09-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Political Quarterly, 3, September, 2020, 91(3), pp. 534 - 541. ISSN: 0032-3179

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