HRM and Organization

Labor Regulations and Location Decisions

Working on the project:

Kerstin Pull

Description:

At a time of intensifying uncertainty, managerial flexibility to adapt to changes in the economic environment is considered to be increasingly important. It is frequently argued that different business locations offer this flexibility to differing degrees, labour regulations being one essential factor in determining the resulting attractiveness of a country as a business location. In this project, we took a closer look at the comparative attractiveness of Germany and the UK as business locations - viewed from the perspective of US multinationals (cf. Pull 2002, 2003, 2005). The empirical evidence from a unique data set derived from a survey of US multinationals in the UK and Germany (1) underlines the perceived comparative attractiveness of the UK as a business location, (2) highlights the potential relevance of a process of self-selection by international investors where investors employing transparent capital goods (i.e. investors that value the flexibility to divest) particularly prefer the UK as a business location, and (3) provides evidence for the differential adjustment strategies in British and German manufacturing subsidiaries where UK subsidiaries make larger use of layoffs and are more likely to close down.

Publications:

  • Pull, Kerstin (2008): Flexibility in HRM and Foreign Direct Investment: Do international investors self-select? The International Journal of Human Resource Management 19(2008)2: 314-329.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2005b): Standortfaktor Arbeitsrecht: Die Bewertung durch ausländische Investoren. Wirtschaftsdienst 85(2005)10: 638-645.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2005a): Labour Regulations and FDI: Who is attracted? Proceedings of the European Academy of Management Annual Conference (EURAM), München 2005.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2003c): Standortwahl, Arbeitsmarktregulierung und der Optionswert von Flexibilität. München. Mering: Hampp.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2003b): Der Einfluss personalpolitischer Flexibilität auf die Standortwahl Multinationaler Unternehmen: Eine empirische Analyse. Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft 73(2003): 849-873.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2003a): Managerial Flexibility, Labour Market Regulation and the Comparative Attractiveness of the UK as a Business Location. European Business Journal 15(2003)2: 49-60.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2002): The Comparative Attractiveness of International Business Locations: The Role of Labor Law. Management Decision 40(2002): 647-654.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2001b): Arbeitsmarktregulierung und Standortwahl: ein optionstheoretischer Ansatz. In: Backes-Gellner, Uschi et al. (Hg.): Entlohnung, Arbeitsorganisation und personalpolitische Regulierung. München, Mering: Hampp: 145-161.
  • Pull, Kerstin (2001a): Standortfaktor Arbeitsrecht: Die Bedeutung von sunk costs für Investitionsentscheidungen. Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Review of Economics) 52(2001)2: 190-201.