Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

National systems of labour administration are of fundamental importance to the functioning of labour markets and employment relations systems.  Scholars of public administration, employment relations and social policy have provided numerous insights into the development of labour policies, the provision of employment services and the capacity of the state to ensure that employment rights are enforced. However, the comparative analysis of national labour administration systems is underdeveloped. The recent interest in 'varieties of capitalism' has produced suggestive insights into how a research agenda might be developed, but to date national labour administration systems have not been subject to rigorous comparative analysis. The purpose of this paper is to set out a set of research questions to orientate the comparative study of national labour administration systems and to suggest ways in which they might be addressed. The paper will draw on national studies of labour administration in a variety of developed and developing economies, which have been conducted as part of a major research initiative undertaken by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).