The Development, Content and Implementation of National Labour Policies

Project description

This project will provide you with an excellent opportunity to collaborate with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations' specialist agency responsible for developing international labour standards. The project’s main focus will be the development, implementation and coverage of national labour policies. The project will investigate the processes by which national labour policies emerge and are defined, prioritised, implemented and enforced in different parts of the world. It will examine the role of labour ministries, other ministries (e.g. finance ministries) and social dialogue institutions, in the development of national labour policies and will also investigate how labour policies relate to other policy areas, including economic, social and industrial policy. The project will also assess the extent to which national labour policies are able to address cross-border labour issues relating to, for example, labour migration and global supply chains, and the scope for cross-border cooperation and regulation to address such issues. More specific objectives and research activities will be discussed and agreed by the student, the supervisors and the ILO.

The project is likely to appeal to applicants with a background in employment relations, global labour studies, politics, political economy, public administration or social policy, although applications from individuals with other academic backgrounds are also very welcome. The project’s research methods are likely to involve interviews with officials located in ministries of labour, officials of other relevant ministries, employer and trade union representatives and other relevant stakeholders.

International collaborator(s)

This project has been co-designed by Professor Jason Heyes, the primary supervisor, and ILO officials. It is anticipated that the project will contribute to the ILO's activities in the areas of labour policy and labour administration. This will mainly be done by the PhD student providing the ILO with occasional reports that will include emerging and final findings from the research. In return, the ILO will support the project by:

• Enabling access to ILO data
• Facilitating discussions and interviews with ILO specialists in ILO HQ in Geneva and ILO field offices in different regions of the world
• Facilitating discussions and interviews with selected qualified officials from ILO Member States
• Receiving the student in Geneva for periods throughout the three years of the scholarship
• Involving the student in appropriate events organised by the ILO, which might include opportunities to present their own findings