Abstract
There is renewed interest around the world in the potential of multilevel collective bargaining to contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable model of economic development. Motivations vary but cluster around concerns to advance economic justice and equalities, to smooth out instabilities in the macro-economy, and to institutionalise more trusting relations of social dialogue between capital, labour and state to manage the transitions to a digital and green economy. Recent country experiences nevertheless highlight tensions and contradictions in the rollout of new collective bargaining systems and suggest knowledge gaps in the idiosyncrasies of institutional design. This special issue provides a critical appraisal of the empirical evidence to date, guided by industrial relations institutional theory, and identifies lessons for policy and practice in the building and sustaining of effective multilevel bargaining systems.
