Paradigm shifts in industrial relations: A bibliometric and social network approach

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and development of industrial relations as a field of study. This paper employs bibliometric and social network analyses to examine the scholarly work published in the top industrial relations journals over the past 40 years. By examining the citation and co-citation patterns at the journal level and the article level, it is possible to empirically describe the field of industrial relations in terms of its parameters and its “paradigms” – the generally agreed on sets of research questions and methodologies – at different time periods throughout its development. Our findings illustrate that the intellectual base of the industrial relations field has moved from a more traditional, applied labor economics view of industrial relations to a broader “employment relations” view of the field.

Citation

Steven McMillan, G. and Casey, D.L. (2010), "Paradigm shifts in industrial relations: A bibliometric and social network approach", Lewin, D., Kaufman, B.E. and Gollan, P.J. (Ed.) Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations (Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations, Vol. 17), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 207-255. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-6186(2010)0000017010