Industrial relations research
Industrial relations is a subfield of Business, Management and Accounting. Science Explorer counts 4.2k research works in it since 1952. 8.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
In short: study of the relationship between employers, employees and others.
- Research works
- 4.2k fractional, since 1952
- In the world top 10%
- 358 per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 8.5% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Topics
- 1
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +3% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Industrial relations research?
On research quality in 2022–2025, Italy rank highest in Industrial relations. By volume, Italy and France publish the most (327 and 109 works in 2022–2025).
By research quality, 2022–2025
- 1 Italy · #1 all time 14.8% top 10% · 327 works
The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.
Of 1 countries ranked in Industrial relations. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.
All countries ranked in Industrial relationsBy volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Italy 327 works
- 2 France 109 works
- 3 Spain 57 works
- 4 United States 23 works
- 5 Brazil 12 works
- 6 ?? 12 works
- 7 Mexico 10 works
- 8 United Kingdom 10 works
- 9 Belgium 7 works
- 10 Croatia 6 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Industrial relations research?
By volume in 2022–2025, University of Florence publishes the most Industrial relations research, followed by University of Milan and University of Bologna.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 University of FlorenceItaly 33 works
- 2 University of MilanItaly 32 works
- 3 University of BolognaItaly 15 works
- 4 University of Bari Aldo MoroItaly 13 works
- 5 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 12 works
- 6 University of PisaItaly 10 works
- 7 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 10 works
- 8 University of SienaItaly 10 works
- 9 University of Naples Federico IIItaly 8 works
- 10 University of TrentoItaly 8 works
Who are the leading researchers in Industrial relations?
Among the most productive authors in Industrial relations, Fritz W. Scharpf, Franco Ferrari and Immanuel Kant rank highest on the composite score.
- 1 Fritz W. Scharpf Germany · #718 worldwide 1.3k citations · 128 works
- 2 Franco Ferrari United States · #827 worldwide 661 citations · 139 works
- 3 Immanuel Kant United States · #896 worldwide 718 citations · 185 works
- 4 Francesco Saverio Violante Italy · #2,065 worldwide 5.2k citations · 73 works
- 5 Arne L. Kalleberg United States · #3,466 worldwide 1.2k citations · 69 works
- 6 Albert Benveniste France · #4,507 worldwide 1.3k citations · 102 works
- 7 William Weber United States · #5,416 worldwide 639 citations · 68 works
- 8 Guy Caire France · #6,219 worldwide 342 citations · 112 works
- 9 Colin Crouch Germany · #6,423 worldwide 637 citations · 138 works
- 10 Francesco Giavazzi Italy · #6,940 worldwide 823 citations · 72 works
Re-ranked on the composite score from the 1,835 highest-output authors in Industrial relations. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.
Top 100 Industrial relations researchersWhere is Industrial relations research done?
The largest centres of Industrial relations research in 2022–2025 are Milan (Italy), Rome (Italy), Florence (Italy) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Florence and Milan.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- FlorenceIT · 41.1 works78×
- MilanIT · 47.1 works25×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Industrial relations than the world average.
Industrial relations research by country
The best places for Industrial relations research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.
Where is the best place to study Industrial relations?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Naples Federico II, University of Milan and University of Siena score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Naples Federico IIItaly | 52.6 | 28.0% | 21.6× | 8 | +201.8% |
| 2 | University of MilanItaly | 46.7 | 12.7% | 78.1× | 32 | +73.3% |
| 3 | University of SienaItaly | 45.0 | 22.8% | 78.6× | 10 | +165.6% |
| 4 | University of FlorenceItaly | 43.0 | 15.1% | 100.9× | 33 | +32.6% |
| 5 | University of BolognaItaly | 42.2 | 22.1% | 29.4× | 15 | +32.3% |
| 6 | University of Bari Aldo MoroItaly | 33.7 | 5.1% | 65.4× | 13 | +280.0% |
| 7 | Sapienza University of RomeItaly | 32.7 | 21.4% | 16.9× | 12 | +43.3% |
| 8 | University of PisaItaly | 25.3 | 0.0% | 34.4× | 10 | +330.0% |
| 9 | Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly | 13.9 | 3.4% | 65.1× | 10 | +114.6% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Industrial relations research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 3% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2019. The fastest-growing topics are Legal and Labor Studies.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.