Jurassic Union Man? A Profile of the British Trade Union Member

This paper examines the determinants of trade union membership in Great Britain utilising micro-data taken from the British Social Attitudes Survey over the period 1985–91. Our results suggest that, contrary to previous micro-studies, personal characteristics and the perceptions of workers' attitudes as regards their working environment impact significantly upon the decision to join a trade union. Moreover, it would appear that the union membership decision is becoming increasingly endogenised, especially in the case of the white-collar worker.     

Crime and the Decline of Unions

In this paper we investigate the relationship between union membership and crime. Using state level data between 1993 and 2006, we find the elasticity of crime with respect to union membership is roughly −0.5. From our results, we predict the decline in union membership has increased crime by 15 per cent since 1993. Furthermore, we find the elasticity between union jobs and crime is larger in absolute value when using an instrumental variable approach to control for the impact unions have on labor market efficiency.     

Changes in Union Membership Over Time: A Panel Analysis for West Germany

Abstract. Despite the apparent stability of the wage bargaining institutions in West Germany, aggregate union membership has been declining dramatically since the early 1990s. However, aggregate gross membership numbers do not distinguish between employment status and it is impossible to disaggregate these sufficiently. This paper uses four waves of the German Socio‐economic Panel in 1985, 1989, 1993, and 1998 to perform a panel analysis of net union membership among employees. We estimate a correlated random‐effects probit model suggested by Chamberlain (Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. II, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1984) to take proper account of individual‐specific effects. Our results suggest that at the individual level the propensity to be a union member has not changed considerably over time. Thus, the aggregate decline in membership is due to composition effects. We also use the estimates to predict net union density at the industry level based on the IAB employment subsample for the time period 1985–97.     

Union Membership and the Union Wage Gap in the UK

We consider the choice of union membership in the UK and its effect on the union/non‐union wage differential allowing for the endogeneity of the union choice. We include identifying variables not previously used and find that correcting for selectivity is important and has a large impact on the estimated differential. Moreover, union choice is itself affected by the wage gap.     

Ten Years of Unionization in Italy (1977-1986)

ABSTRACT: This paper is an analysis of unionization in Italy between 1977 and 1986, with particular reference to the evolution of the three major Italian trade union confederations: the CGIL (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro), with a communist majority and socialist minority; the CISL (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori), originally linked to the Christian Democrat party, but increasingly autonomous and politically pluralistic; and the UIL (Unione Italiana del Lavoro), with a socialist majority and strong social democrat and republican minorities. After a brief review of earlier studies on the subject, the author traces (for the first time since the seventies) the changes that have taken place in union representation at the sectoral and territorial levels, basing his findings on new classification and methodological criteria. The four principal results that emerge from this study are: a) the overall maintenance of union membership levels over the decade, due to a sharp drop in membership among wage and salary-earners and a parallel increase among pensioners; b) the considerable decrease of unionization rates, especially in the more industrialized north; c) the limited membership in the services sector, where employment growth is strongest; d) the marked redistribution of each confederation's relative weight, to the benefit of the UIL. Based on this, the author concludes by suggesting that the uneven influence of the economic cycle on unionization at both sectoral and territorial levels, can be explained by the continuing existence of a variety of representation models.     

‘Investment’ in Union Membership: A Managerial Approach

This paper concerns wage formation in a unionized economy when union membership is endogenous and determined by employment. A union is run by a leadership which has as an objective to strengthen the union’s position in the labour market. This is achieved by building up membership. Among the results, it is found that since membership is determined by employment, the inclusion of the leadership’s preferences into a union’s objective function produces lower real wages than a static version would predict. It is also shown that an increase in the union’s rate of time preference increases the natural rate of unemployment, while an increase in the speed at which workers enter/leave a union has an opposite effect.     

Determinants of Union Membership: A Review

The recent drastic decline in trade union membership levels in most Western countries has led to renewed interest in the factors which influence the decision of employees to join unions. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the three main approaches: structural determinism, individual-level analysis, and conceptual models of trade union joining behaviour. Structural determinism is discussed in the context of the Bainian model and its various extensions. In contrast, the diverse findings in the field of individual-union joining behaviour is assessed by drawing on a comprehensive table comprising all variables examined in this area. The first two sections focus exclusively on trade union joining behaviour as the independent variable whereas the third part of the paper uses an individuals' voting behaviour in the USA. This focus was necessary due to the lack of causal models using union joining behaviour as their dependent variable. The author selects two of the most advanced models for a detailed analysis, and relates the findings to the preceding sections. It is the objective of the paper to critically evaluate the three approaches and their contributions towards understanding this complex field of research.     

The Rise in Union Wage Premiums in South Africa

The earnings premium received by African, urban, male union members in South Africa, as compared to other regular, urban male employees, is explored using two national sample surveys conducted in 1985 and 1993. The historical setting of this change is of particular interest, in the light of the transformation from the apartheid regime. Union membership grew very rapidly during this interval, as earlier prohibitions on African unions were lifted. Subsequently, the high rates of unemployment and segmentation of the labor force have been issues of central concern to the new government, elected in 1994. In this context, the paper extends prior methodology, by systematically comparing possible approaches to estimation, in addition to contributing fresh empirical results. Four approaches to estimation are adopted, allowing for: a single earnings regime with union dummy variable; the possibility of different earnings regimes among union members as compared to non‐members; endogenous switching between such regimes; sample selection arising from lack of employment and from division between regular and informal work. A series of tests on nested specifications indicate the importance of recognizing endogenous switching between differing pay structures in the covered and uncovered sectors. However (as with previous research on the South African labor market), no sample selection is detected with respect to employment status. The results suggest that collective bargaining resulted in wage compression among the expanding union membership while significantly widening the gap between members and non‐members. The latter widening gap cannot be attributed to the changing composition of union membership as reflected in observed characteristics of employees.     

The Union Effect on Wages in Chile: A Two‐Stage Approach Using Panel Data

We estimate the union effect on wages in Chile to be between 18 and 24 per cent. We follow a two‐stage procedure that allows us to correct the endogeneity of union status and to separate true from spurious dependence, by exploiting the union history of individuals using panel data. We find evidence of comparative‐advantage sorting in union status, strong true state dependence and a re‐distributional effect of union membership (i.e. wage gains from unionization are larger for lower‐wage earners).     

Risk Aversion,Collective Bargaining,and Wages in Germany

We develop an open‐shop model of trade union membership in which workers differ in their risk attitudes, and derive conditions under which the bargained wage will fall and union membership will increase with a general rise in risk aversion. Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel we define broad bargaining units and show that wages decline as average risk aversion of union members in these units rises, controlling for individual effects of risk aversion. Given a negative relationship between wages and employment, this suggests that secular changes in risk attitudes, because of an aging workforce or greater female labour force participation, can help to explain variations in the employment performance of unionized economies.     

A Structural Model of Trade Union Behaviour under Uncertainty,with Sticky Wage

ABSTRACT: Trade union concern for job security is modelled under asymmetric information about labour demand, with rigid wage. Sequential decision processes are discussed, for the individual, on whether to join the union (utility defined over consumption and leisure); for the union, about the contribution to charge (utility defined over level of membership and level of contributions); for the employer, on level of labour to hire (profit maximizer). Equilibrium solutions, and ‘disequilibrium‘ solutions with shocked output price, are provided in a general and algebraic formulation; simulations with 1982 British data are shown, with shocks on probability of fall in output price, on technology, and on working time.     

Beauty is in the in-group of the beholded: Intergroup differences in the perceived attractiveness of leaders

Physical attractiveness is most commonly presumed to be an exogenous characteristic that influences people's feelings, perceptions, and behavior across myriad types of relationships. We investigate the opposite prediction in which feelings toward other people influence the perceptions of others' attractiveness. Focusing specifically on subordinates' perceptions of leaders of in-groups and out-groups, we examine whether group membership moderates familiarity in relation to ratings of physical attractiveness. Studies 1 and 2 show that subordinates rate the leaders of their in-groups as significantly more physically attractive than comparably familiar out-group leaders. Our findings have relevance for understanding the interactive roles of physical attractiveness within contemporary organizational environments and help to account for variance in interpersonal perceptions on the basis of group membership. In contrast with research traditions that treat physical attractiveness as a static trait, our findings highlight the importance of group membership as a lens for perceiving familiar leaders' physical attractiveness.     

Union Density and Relative Wages: What is the Relationship?

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the impact of union density on relative wages under decentralised bargaining settings. Whilst, traditionally, empirical studies have focused on the impact of union status on wages (either at the individual or at the plant level), here it is argued that local trade union density can have an independent (positive) effect on wages. This occurs through the threat of collective action and the ability of the union to impose costs onto employers. First, a Nash bargaining model is presented under efficient-bargaining settings, and a wage-membership equation is derived. Wages are shown to be an increasing and convex function of union membership. Second, an empirical specification of the wage-membership equation, suitable for estimation, is obtained and fitted to establishment-level data for the Italian metal-mechanical engineering industry. A positive monotonic relationship between wages and union density is detected. Furthermore, wages are shown to be increasing with union density even where no formal local bargaining agreement is in force, thus suggesting that “union-threat” effects might be relevant.     

Satisfaction with Virtual Communities of Interest: Effect on Members' Visit Frequency*

The authors develop a four‐dimensional scale to measure members' satisfaction with virtual communities of interest (VCIs). The dimensions consist of members' satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and organizer‐to‐community interactions, all of which come together on the VCI's site. Using a sample of 3605 members of a VCI, the authors investigated the effect of each satisfaction dimension on members' visit frequency, and the moderating effect of membership duration on the links between the satisfaction dimensions and visit frequency. The results reveal that satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and the community's site has positive effects on members' visit frequency. Members' satisfaction with organizer‐to‐community interactions has no effect on visit frequency. The findings also show that membership duration strengthens two, and weakens one of the linkages between the satisfaction dimensions and members' visit frequency.     

Join the Union and Be Safe: The Effects of Unionization on Occupational Safety and Health in the European Union

This paper investigates the effect of unionization on occupational safety and health, as measured by the fatal and non‐fatal work accidents, after controlling for the country's gross domestic product. It uses a panel sample of 10 European Union countries, for the period 1982–2006. The study takes into account the time persistence in work injuries and the endogenous nature of the work injuries–union density relationship. In addition, the effect of union density is decomposed into a temporary and permanent effect. It is shown that increasing union density is associated with a decrease in the number of both fatal and non‐fatal work injuries.     

THE IMPACT OF UNIONS ON OPERATIONS STRATEGY

This paper explores the effect that unions have on a firm's ability to reengineer manufacturing processes. We begin by exploring the various effects that a union may have in a manufacturing environment. Next, we briefly review how unions may affect managerial initiatives to reengineer processes and improve manufacturing performance. The third section analyzes an existing database to test for differences in cycle time and manufacturing performance between union and nonunion firms. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study for future operations strategy research and note how a different form of union‐management relationships is beginning to evolve.     

Welfare Effects of Local versus Central Wage Bargaining

The paper analyses the welfare effects of union bargaining (de)centralization in a dual labour market with a unionized and a competitive sector. We show that social welfare depends on both the structure of the union's objective function and the elasticities of labour demand in both sectors. The welfare‐maximizing employment allocation can be obtained under a high degree of centralization if the union maximizes the total wage‐bill. Otherwise, if the union is rent maximizing, welfare is higher under local bargaining. However, in that case neither central nor local wage setting yields the social optimum.     

Wage Commitment,Signalling, and Entry Deterrence or Accommodation

Abstract. We analyse the wage choice of a monopoly union against entry threat. The wage carries information about market demand, which is crucial to an uninformed entrant, and in addition affects the entrant's post‐entry cost through labour market institutions. The union may wish to deter or accommodate entry depending on whether the entrant will hire from a different source or from the union. Equilibrium wage is distorted downwardly (upwardly) for deterrence (accommodation); but because of wage correlation a low (high) wage can also turn entry profitable (unprofitable). Therefore, separating equilibrium may not always exist, and entry outcomes may be inefficient.     

Wage Setting in Sweden: An Empirical Test of a Barebones Union Model

ABSTRACT In this paper a simple monopoly union model for the Swedish economy is presented and estimated. Interest is focused on the union's objectives. The results indicate that two popular representations of union objectives — wage bill and rent maximisation — are rejected by the data. Instead, preferences are highly concave in the wage rate, with an estimated degree of relative risk aversion well above unity evaluated at sample means.     

Trade Union Action and Privatisation in Western Europe: Recent Dilemmas*

Abstract. The Author examines the policies of privatisation in Western Europe and the responses made by trade unions. Privatisation seems to induce the trade union movement to shift its emphasis from traditional issues toward new and challenging ones, such as a major co-operation in the management of the privatised companies. Therein, the extension of interest and control by the unions into new areas such as investment, planning, work organisation and design constitute a challenge to trade union core mandate. In some union circles there are fears about unions embracing what appear to be managerial strategies in a period of deep transformation and turbulence. Moreover, according to some union leaders any attempt by the unions to go beyond the “oppositional and defensive role” would result in a confusion and misrepresentation of their members' interests.