Political exchange and bargaining reform in Italy and Spain

Wage bargaining structures in Italy and Spain changed significantly in the 1990s. This is usually seen as an employer-led response to exogenous pressures such as the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This article shows that while EMU acted as a catalyst for negotiated adjustments, changes in wage bargaining are better explained through factors endogenous to national systems, in particular union strategies and interactions in the policy-making arena. By means of policy concertation and political exchange, unions have shaped institutional change in collective bargaining so as to avoid a disorganized decentralization of labour relations.