The Contribution of Labour Law to Economic and Human Development

Abstract

This chapter proposes a ‘systemic’ conception of labour market institutions as a basis for understanding how labour law can facilitate economic and human development. Labour law rules are seen as having co-evolved with economic and political institutions to create the conditions for the emergence of modern labour markets. Labour law regulation has a ‘market constituting’ role, in addition to ‘correcting’ market outcomes where they lead to negative externalities and ‘limiting’ the market where this is necessary to achieve human developmental goals. A certain level of economic development is a necessary precondition for a functioning labour law system, and some labour law rules may be inappropriate for developing and transition systems. However, there is also evidence that labour law rules can be effective in stimulating development, and do not depend on the prior existence of fully developed economic and political institutions.

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