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tion, and civil security, which typically motivatesspecific regulations. Thus, our conclusions on therole of regulation must necessarily be evaluatedin a more comprehensive context before drawingdefinitive social welfare implications.’One specific manifestation of this problematicparadigm lies in the area of union power.For economists, this is a standard sub-measure ofrigidity in the labour market. Within the Botero etal study (2004), for example, it is captured underthe collective rights index. However, for many legalexperts the right to join a union and the freedomof association are viewed as universal rightsissues and not by any means as matters touchingon labour market regulation. Such experts wouldalso view positively the idea that the greater thenumber of unionised individuals in a society thestronger the indication of a thriving democraticsociety with enshrined individual rights andinterests. The notion that union membership issomehow coupled with labour market rigidity isanathema to a significant proportion of the legalcommunity. Indeed, policy consistency is requiredwhen stressing the importance of democracyand good governance to economic growth onthe one hand, while reflecting on rigidity inducedby high levels of union power on the other.Interpretation of RegulationsThe standard measures of regulation found in theDBS are, as noted above, numeric conversions ofcountry-level legislative provisions. The DBS doesnot proclaim to do any more than this. However,it is worth reiterating the importance of how suchlegislation is interpreted by both the courts of lawand the relevant institutions of authority (such as,for example, dispute resolution bodies). Legislativeprovisions are more often than not, subject tointerpretation by the relevant legal authority. Howjudges, for example, interpret the notion of ‘fairdismissal’ falls to a variety of different variablesincluding the subjective opinion of the judge; themerits of the particular case; the evolution of jurisprudenceon relevant issues raised in the case;the resources available to the parties and so on.The simultaneous impact of these variables wouldtherefore then lead to a specific interpretation ofthe law. The outcome, as a consequence of thesefactors, may be an over-regulation or indeedunder-regulation of specific labour market activitiessuch as reasons for dismissal; unfair labourpractices; probation rights and so on.Simply put, the interpretation of labour legislationby the vested authorities may in fact yield ameasure of regulation that is at odds with thoseproduced by surveys such as the DBS and ICAs.The reality, however, is that attempting to extendthe DBS measure into the realm of court judgementsand their orientation is almost impossible.However, it is essential to note them in any discussionthat measures labour regulation within acountry. Implicitly, legislative provisions representan incomplete and less than satisfying measureof labour regulation in an economy.There is another layer to understanding the legislativeenvironment in relation to the labour market:In many countries, its labour law architectureflows from, and is intricately and deliberatelylinked to, both its international and complementarydomestic legal obligations. Hence, drasticpolicy interventions designed to deregulate aneconomy’s labour market, may require due recognitionof the ILO Conventions that a country hasalready ratified. In addition, rights of an individualenshrined in the country’s constitution serveas the bedrock from which specific labour lawprovisions are made. Tampering with the latter ina substantive manner may indeed be unconstitutional.The generic point, however, is that shouldderegulating a labour market involve significant,163