Consists of two papers and comments thereon. The paper "Can Political Models Predict Union Behaviour?" by Professor Robert Flanagan deals with the process of policy formulation within unions. Using collective-choice analysis, examines whether and under what circumstances it is possible for union members to form a collective goal and the ability of union leaders to alter that goal. The paper " Bargaining Structure and Economic Performance" by Karl Ove Moene and Michael Wallerstein discusses the issues of the implications of the level of centralization of wage bargaining on economic performance.
This book offers an extensive survey and synthesis of the economic literature on trade unions and collective bargaining and their impact on micro-and macro-economic outcomes. The authors demonstrate the effects of collective bargaining in different country settings and time periods. A comprehensive reference, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of labor policy as well as to policy makers and anyone with an interest in the economic consequences of unionism.
Richard B. Freeman and James L. Medoff’s now classic 1984 book What Do Unions Do? stimulated an enormous theoretical and empirical literature on the economic impact of trade unions. Trade unions continue to be a significant feature of many labor markets, particularly in developing countries, and issues of labor market regulations and labor institutions remain critically important to researchers and policy makers. The relations between unions and management can range between cooperation and conflict; unions have powerful offsetting wage and non-wage effects that economists and other social scientists have long debated. Do the benefits of unionism exceed the costs to the economy and society writ large, or do the costs exceed the benefits? The Economics of Trade Unions offers the first comprehensive review, analysis and evaluation of the empirical literature on the microeconomic effects of trade unions using the tools of meta-regression analysis to identify and quantify the economic impact of trade unions, as well as to correct research design faults, the effects of selection bias and model misspecification. This volume makes use of a unique dataset of hundreds of empirical studies and their reported estimates of the microeconomic impact of trade unions. Written by three authors who have been at the forefront of this research field (including the co-author of the original volume, What Do Unions Do?), this book offers an overview of a subject that is of huge importance to scholars of labor economics, industrial and employee relations, and human resource management, as well as those with an interest in meta-analysis.
Study of the impact of trade unions on working conditions and labour relations in the USA - based on a comparison of unionized workers and nonunionized workers, examines wage determination, fringe benefits, wage differentials, employment security, labour productivity, etc.; discusses trade union power and incidence of corruption among trade union officers; notes declining rate of trade unionization in the private sector. Graphs and references.
Collective bargaining and workers’ voice are often discussed in the past rather than in the future tense, but can they play a role in the context of a rapidly changing world of work? This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the functioning of collective bargaining systems and workers’ voice arrangements across OECD countries, and new insights on their effect on labour market performance today.
The book attempts to examine whether trade unions in Japan contributed to raising wages, productivity and firm's performance. In the western world trade unions are often regarded as organizations which prevent firms from performing well. The Japanese case may be different from Europe and North America. The book investigates who in Japan joins trade unions and asks whether there is any difference in the satisfaction level of employees, the wage level, and labour turnover rates between union members and non-union members?
Organizing Matters demonstrates the interplay between two distinct logics of labour’s collective action: on the one hand, workers coming together, usually at their place of work, entrusting the union to represent their interests and, on the other hand, social bargaining in which the trade union constructs labour’s interests from the top down. The book investigates the tensions and potential complementarities between the two logics through the combination of a strong theoretical framework and an extensive qualitative case study of trade union organizing and recruitment in four countries – Austria, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands. These countries still utilize social-wide bargaining but find it necessary to draw and develop strategies transposed from Anglo-American countries in response to continuously declining membership.
The Economic and Business Consequences of the EMU A Challenge for Governments, Financial Institutions and Firms Hubert Ooghe Conference Chairman, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School alld Ghent University EMU finally got under way on 1 st January 1999. Since then 11 European countries share a common currency, the Euro, and pursue a common monetary policy managed by the European Central Bank (ECB). After forty years of economic integration, Euroland has the wherewithal with which to enter the 21 st century. However monetary union has implications for nearly all areas of economic activity and decision-making. Throughout the academic world researchers are fully occupied with the theoretical analysis of the impact of the Euro and the effects of incorporating the new operational framework into their economic models. Businesses and government departments are concerned primarily with the practical implementation of the single currency. For all those who playa part in the economy, it is a question of making the most of the macro and micro economic opportunities offered by the Euro and minimising any threats. On 17th and 18th March 2000, after the EMU and Euro were in operation for one year, an international conference was held in Ghent (Belgium) on the economic consequences of the introduction of the EMU and the Euro for governments, financial institutions and firms.
One of the best-known and most-quoted books ever written on labor unions is What Do Unions Do? by Richard Freeman and James Medoff. Published in 1984, the book proved to be a landmark because it provided the most comprehensive and statistically sophisticated empirical portrait of the economic and socio-political effects of unions, and a provocative conclusion that unions are on balance beneficial for the economy and society.The present volume represents a twentieth-anniversary retrospective and evaluation of What Do Unions Do? The objectives are threefold: to evaluate and critique the theory, evidence, and conclusions of Freeman and Medoff; to provide a comprehensive update of the theoretical and empirical literature on unions since the publication of their book; and to offer a balanced assessment and critique of the effects of unions on the economy and society. Toward this end, internationally recognized representatives of labor and management cover the gamut of subjects related to unions.Topics covered include the economic theory of unions; the history of economic thought on unions; the effect of unions on wages, benefits, capital investment, productivity, income inequality, dispute resolution, and job satisfaction; the performance of unions in an international perspective; the reasons for the decline of unions; and the future of unions. The volume concludes with a chapter by Richard Freeman in which he assesses the arguments and evidence presented in the other chapters and presents his evaluation of how What Do Unions Do? stands up in the light of twenty years of additional experience and research. This highly readable volume is a state-of-the-art survey by internationally recognized experts on the effects and future of labor unions. It will be the benchmark for years to come.
