Policy Briefs & Reports

Iliopoulos, P. & Wójcik, D. (2025). Taming the Oligopolists in the Shadows: The Big Four and the Governance of Global Value Chains. (No. 21; Policy Brief, DemoTrans).

Summary

The Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) play a central yet under examined role in shaping global production. Their influence extends far beyond auditing and tax services, coordinating and restructuring Global Value Chains (GVCs) across industries and geographies. Their power is multidimensional, exercised through market dominance (bargaining power), regulatory influence (institutional power), professional culture and norms (demonstrative power), and the global diffusion of business practices (constitutive power). These firms function as ‘one-stop-shops’, bundling legal, financial, and strategic services for multinational corporations, while also embedding themselves into public institutions and policy frameworks through lobbying and advisory roles. Policy responses must focus on rebuilding public-sector capabilities and introducing stricter regulatory frameworks to reduce dependency, enhance transparency, and mitigate conflicts of interest in the operation of these powerful actors.

Gouzoulis, G., Galanis, G., & Iliopoulos, P. (2024). Financialization and the Decline of Trade Union Membership in the EU. (No. 18; Policy Brief, DemoTrans).

Summary

This article shows that an orientation towards shareholder value and corporate indebtedness at non-financial firms have been negatively associated with union density in the EU over the past 21 years. We argue that the financialisation of non-financial firms makes them prioritise their ‘external (economic) balance’ at the expense of a cooperative ‘internal equilibrium’ model. In other words, corporate financialisation pushes non-financial firms to shift to non-participatory, market-based HR systems that directly undermine the role of trade unions. This study examines this corporate financialisation-induced shift within the EU in the wake of deeper economic integration since 1999 and provides panel data econometric evidence that it has significantly undermined union membership.

Iliopoulos, P. (Takis). (2024). Exploiting the Exploiters: Labour Strategies in the Era of Global Value Chains (Blog Article Issue 27; Futures of Work). University of Bristol. 

Summary

For many decades the dominant narrative in academic and political circles regarding the challenges of industrial relations was that of the relocation threat. In a world of international capital mobility with constantly decreasing barriers to trade, capitalist firms – usually in the form of multinational companies with ties in foreign countries – have the upper hand in negotiations with their workers, leveraging their flexibility and/or their viable threat to relocate their production facilities to countries and regions with significantly lower wage levels and labour standards.

Galanis, G., Gouzoulis, G. & Iliopoulos, P. (Takis). Over-indebtedness and the Effects on the Greek Labor Market (in Greek).

Summary

This study analyzes the effects of the financialization of the Greek economy on the labor market, focusing on the period from the country's accession to the Eurozone until today. Despite the fact that the issue of bad loans and auctions is a strong concern of Greek society, the public political debate is usually limited to the effects of reducing non-performing loans on bank balance sheets, and in rare cases extends to the risks of thousands of over-indebted households losing their homes. More specifically, the tightening of the framework for the management of bad loans and the facilitation of auctions has as its main objective to allow Greek banks to improve their balance sheets and therefore to channel new liquidity into the Greek economy through the provision of loans to businesses and individuals. Nevertheless, the logic behind this particular choice of economic policy focuses unilaterally on the supply side.

Iliopoulos, P., & De Witte, K. (2023). Municipal Budget Trade-Offs: Which services do local governments sacrifice under budget rules? (No. 6; Policy Brief, DemoTrans).

Summary

We investigate the expenditure composition of 300 Flemish municipalities. We observe that local governments tend to prioritize specific policy areas when they operate under fiscal constraints such as a balanced budget rule. Our analysis reveals the considerable impact of the political and ideological position of local communities on budget priorities and internal trade-offs. The budget composition patterns are also influenced by the age structure (inter-generational conflict) and ethnic diversity of local communities. We suggest the introduction of new forms of democratic participation (e.g., participatory budgeting) for under-represented social groups at the local level, to align citizens’ needs and municipalities’ provision of local public goods.

Gouzoulis, G., Iliopoulos, P. (Takis), & Galanis, G. (2022). Tackling precarious work through financial regulation and private debt relief (No. 119; Policy Briefing).

Summary

Our research suggests that personal financial insecurity and the related fear of default make workers more likely to accept working under precarious contracts, rather than negotiating for better working conditions. Using secondary data from the OECD database, we show that household debt and financial investments by pension funds increase involuntary part-time and temporary work in 22 advanced and developing economies since 1990. Therefore, this policy briefing discusses why the regulation of the financial system is an essential step towards a less precarious and more efficient labour market. Below, we offer relevant insights for policymakers and businesses.