Wandel der Erwerbsformen: Berlin und die Bundesrepublik im Vergleich

Abstract

"Das traditionelle Normalarbeitsverhältnis hat seit den achtziger Jahren gegenüber anderen Erwerbsformen (Teilzeitbeschäftigung, befristete Beschäftigung, Leiharbeit) an Bedeutung verloren. In Berlin liegt mittlerweile der Anteil der Normalarbeitsverhältnisse an allen Erwerbsformen deutlich unter dem bundesdeutschen Durchschnitt. Einflußfaktoren wie wirtschaftlicher Strukturwandel, steigende Erwerbsbeteiligung der Frauen und institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen erklären den Wandel der Erwerbsformen nur zum Teil. Theoretische Basis der Analyse ist ein Modell, das - basierend auf den Arbeiten von Herbert A. Simon - zwischen Kauf- und Arbeitsverträgen unterscheidet. Welche Vertragsform gewählt wird, hängt einerseits vom Interesse an Einkommenssicherheit, Wettbewerbsbeschränkung und Qualifikationsentwicklung ab und andererseits vom Interesse an frei verfügbarer Arbeitskraft, zuverlässiger Leistung und (auf dem Markt nicht käuflichen) Erfahrungswissen. Infolge veränderter Kontextbedingungen kann - so die Annahme - auf beiden Seiten das Interesse an regulären Arbeitsverträgen zugunsten von Kaufverträgen oder von Mischformen nachlassen. Die Diskussion läßt erkennen, daß 'Arbeitnehmer' und 'Arbeitgeber' auch künftig ein starkes Interesse an dauerhaften Arbeitsverträgen habendiese werden jedoch zunehmend Elemente von Kaufverträgen (Zielvereinbarungen, Gewinn- und Kostenbeteiligung) aufweisen. Der Wandel der Erwerbsformen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in Berlin wird auf Basis des Mikrozensus von 1985 bis 1998 verglichen. Im Unterschied zu bisherigen Studien wird auch die Entwicklung der Erwerbsbeteiligung in die Analyse miteinbezogen. Zudem erfolgt eine geschlechtsspezifische Differenzierung." (Autorenreferat)

"The structure of employment in the Federal Republic of Germany has been diversifying increasingly since the 1980s. The traditional 'regular employment relationship' has lost ground to other employment forms such as part-time, fixed-term or agency work, though it is still by far the most common type of employment relationship. In Berlin, however, more substantial changes are evident since the early 1990sin particular, there has been an absolute decline in the share of regular employment relationships. As a share of all forms of employment in Berlin, regular employment relationships are now well below the national average. However, at the same time atypical employment forms, such as marginal part-time work and agency work, have expanded significantly over a short period of time. Do the developments in Berlin represent the future structure of employment, or are we looking at an historically determined adjustment process that will soon conform to the national trend? Possible determinants such as economic restructuring, the growth in female labour force participation or the institutional framework can only partly explain the change in employment forms. The development of employment forms in the foreseeable future is another interesting question: Will the regular employment relationship remain the dominant type, or can a further erosion in favour of other forms of employment be expected? A theoretical model based on the work of Herbert A. Simon and differentiating between sales contracts and employment contracts provides some answers. Each of these contractual forms has typical advantages and disadvantages. The choice between them depends, on the one hand, on the interest in income security, restraints on competition and development of professional skills and, on the other hand, on the interest in freely available work capacities, reliability of performance and experience knowledge which is usually not for sale on the market. Changing context conditions, it is assumed, can lead to a loss of interest on both sides in regular employment contracts in favour of sales contracts or in combinations that contain elements of both contractual forms. This would explain the increase in flexible employment relationships. However, the discussion of the model shows also that 'employees' and 'employers' will continue to have a considerable interest in permanent employment contracts in the future, but that these will increasingly incorporate elements of sales contracts (such as agreements on goal attainment and shares in profits and costs). The change in employment forms in Germany and Berlin is compared on the basis of microcensus data from 1985 to 1998. Unlike previous studies, the analysis includes not only the trends for types of employment as a share of all employment forms, but also labour force participation trends. In addition, the analysis specifies for gender throughout. Women work less often than men in a regular employment relationship. However, in Germany as a whole the activity rate of women in regular employment relationships rose, while it declined for men, and in Berlin women were less affected by the decline in regular employment relationships than men." (author's abstract)