By Marcus Lin
Professor Sarosh Kuruvilla, Professor of Industrial Relations, Asian Studies and Public Affairs at Cornell University, made this conclusion at his presentation 'Tripartism Around The World' at the International Forum on Tripartism on 26 October 2015.
His studies show that tripartism is deeply institutionalised in Singapore with strong and continuous commitment of the top political leadership as well as NTUC and SNEF.
Strong Tripartism
Professor Sarosh said that the repeated use of tripartism in Singapore strategically and during crises has demonstrated its utility. He cited the relatively stable representative organisations and the strong institutional web of relationships, whether formal or informal, as contributing factors to strong tripartism.
He also noted the future focus of deepening tripartism to sectoral levels in Singapore.
Professor Sarosh pointed out that tripartism, which has been most developed and studied in Western Europe, has had limited success in most other parts of the world and is in a state of decline generally.
