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The Social Charter: Whatever Next?
Author(s) -
Addison John T.,
Siebert W. Stanley
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1992.tb00788.x
Subject(s) - charter , commission , competition (biology) , competition policy , law and economics , set (abstract data type) , public economics , business , economics , industrial organization , political science , market economy , law , computer science , ecology , biology , programming language , welfare
This paper traces the development of the Social Charter since its adoption in December 1989. We examine and evaluate the more important policy instruments. It is shown that the mandatory and often ambitious ‘minimum standards’ set by the Commission are difficult to justify in efficiency terms by reference to market failure. Furthermore, the imposition of uniformity on states that are diverse in their patterns of regulation will retard competition between social systems. It is also likely that the countervailing moves taken by firms in reaction to the imposition of arbitrary standards will frustrate the redistributive aims of the policy.