Three transformations of industrial relations in Laos

This article provides an account of industrial relations in Laos, in light of the transformation theory from the industrial relations literature. The scope of the article is limited to employment in the formal, wage-earning sector of the civilian economy. The article argues that the history of industrial relations in Laos can be divided into four eras: The French colonial era (1890s to 1947); the Royal Lao Government era (1947-1975); the first decade or so of the Lao People's Democratic Republic following the communist revolution in 1975; and the contemporary reform era under the New Economic Mechanism (1986 to the present). Following the transformation literature, the article argues that these four eras were divided by three transformations: The first of these, from the colonial to Royal Lao Government regime, was incremental or gradual; the second and third were cases of discontinuous change. The first and third of the transformations, to some extent, are 'controversial'