1 'Dynamics of Change in the Public Service Sector: A Comparison of Working Conditions in French and German Hospitals'

Draft, do not quote, do not circulate In most of the European countries, the changes of the employment relationship (Bosch, 2004) – or of the wage-earning relationship (Beffa, Boyer, Touffu, 1999) – remain on top of both the political and scientific debate. In countries such as France and Germany with highly regulated employment systems in the past (but based on different rules and actors), some politicians and social actors (namely employers associations) are claiming for more flexibility, deregulation, re-commodification of labour, transfer of the employment risks to the individual (Méhaut, 2004). Within the scientific community, questions arise about the nature and the pace of the change. Changes may affect the level, distribution and regulation of wages, the employment status, the work content and organisation etc. Hypothesis range from rather pessimistic perspectives observing a radical change (Beck, 2001, Castel, 2003) that results in a slow but continuous erosion of the past regulation. Other hypothesis are more towards small mechanic adjustments within the previous system or of an organic change which could result in new rules, but having respect to the main structural properties of the SER (Silvestre, 1989 for the concept, Bosch, 2004). The paper is a very preliminary step to analyse and discuss theses questions in the specific field of the health care sector, in a comparative perspective between Germany and France. It is based on data and preliminary case studies gathered in the framework of the “Future o