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Reitz, John C. --- "Comparative Law and Political Economy" [2012] ELECD 763; in Clark, S. David (ed), "Comparative Law and Society" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Comparative Law and Society

Editor(s): Clark, S. David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849803618

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Comparative Law and Political Economy

Author(s): Reitz, John C.

Number of pages: 28

Extract:

6 Comparative law and political economy
John C. Reitz*


1 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY THESIS

1.1 Employment Law as an Example

In the spring of 2006, riots gripped France. The French government proposed to amend
the statutory law concerning employment by introducing a type of employment that could
be terminated without any reason (`at-will employment') for young, first-time workers.
Most employment in France is covered by statutory protections prohibiting dismissal
without substantial reasons. The riots illuminated in a particularly dramatic way how
different prevailing ideas about the appropriate degree of state intervention in the market
can be in various countries, even as between Western democratic nations with robust legal
systems and many common cultural traditions. Americans looked on with growing disbe-
lief as the strikes spread in France because most Americans work under at-will contracts.
Many Americans had difficulty seeing how the French rioters, who included not only stu-
dents, but also union members and retirees, could be so incensed about the introduction
of a limited form of at-will employment.1
This example illustrates not only national diversity in views over the appropriate level of
state intervention in the market, but also how those differences are reflected in substantial
and important variations in legal rules. French law regulates employment relationships
generally through legislation restricting employee dismissals in most cases to `cause' (that
is, serious breaches by the employee) or such restructuring of the business that it is impos-
sible, even with job retraining, to find a ...