Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

Figure 1: Firm-level decisions and actions with regard to the timing of exit
The main actors making decisions within the firm are the management and employee
representatives (works councils in the German case, usually shop-level trade unions in the
case of Poland). Their actions are influenced by the institutional framework (see Table 1),
by informal institutions (inner-firm factors such as firm culture and “ceremonial rules” of
action (Meyer/Rowan 1977), individual retirement preferences and role models for older
workers which have the character of informal institutions), and by socio-economic
conditions on the labour market (demography, unemployment, sectoral division of labour).
The formal institutional setting pertaining to retirement and employment can be divided
into the following spectrum of policies (Table 1):
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