scholarly journals Norm-Based Trade Union Membership: Evidence for Germany

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laszlo Goerke ◽  
Markus Pannenberg
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Free Rider ◽  
Free Rider Problem ◽  
Social Custom ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the absence of closed shops and discriminatory wage policies, union membership can be explained by the existence of social norms.We describe a model, incorporating institutional features of the German labour market, which explicitly allows for social custom effects in the determination of union membership. Using panel data for Germany, we find evidence for according effects which restrict freeriding. The impact of social norms tends to increase with net union density. Hence, observed reductions in the demand for union membership can weaken the impact of a norm and accentuate the free-rider problem.

Was it worth it? The impact of the German minimum wage on union membership of employees

2021 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2110358
Author(s):  
Simon Ress ◽  
Florian Spohr
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
German Trade ◽  
The Impact

This contribution scrutinises how introducing a statutory minimum wage of EUR 8.50 per hour, in January 2015, impacted German employees’ decision with regard to union membership. Based on representative data from the Labour Market and Social Security panel, the study applies a logistic difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach on entries into and withdrawals from unions in the German Trade Union Confederation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB). The results show no separate effect on withdrawals from or entries into unions after the minimum wage introduction for those employees who benefited financially from it, but a significant increase of entries overall. Thus, unions’ campaign for a minimum wage strengthened their position in total but did not reverse the segmentation of union membership patterns.

Een halve eeuw vakbondslidmaatschap : Een verkennende longitudinale studie naar enkele cyclische determinanten voor de ledenontwikkeling van de Belgische vakbonden, 1946-1995

Res Publica ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-32
Author(s):  
Kurt Vandaele
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Econometric Model ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Structural Variable ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
The Impact

This article explains the ebb and flow in Belgian trade union membership from 1946 to 1995 by replicating the econometric model by Bain and Elsheikhn in which changes in macro-economic variables are highly significant. Since the automatic indexation of wages and the extension of collective labour agreements invite free riding, the relevance of the change in inflation and real wage is quite striking. However, the free riding-effect is slowed down by the institutionalised presence of the trade unions on the work floor. The Ghent system explains the positive impact of the unemployment rate . The model is furthermore improved by the trade union density as a structural variable. The linear form reflects the enforcement effect, while the quadratic form mirrors the saturation effect on the trade union membership. Mainly due to the 'Allgemeinkoalitionsfähighkeit' of the Belgian government system, the impact of left parties on union growth and decline is not significant in a quantitative framework. With only four explanatory variables the model clarifies more than 75% of the fluctuations in Belgian trade union membership.

scholarly journals Restoring Democracy to the Workplace? An Analysis of Union Membership Patters Before and After the Employment Contracts Act

1970 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Cregan ◽  
Chris Rudd ◽  
Stewart Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Before And After ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

This paper investigates the impact of the Employment Contracts Act on trade union membership. Two separate surveys of labour market participants lvere conducted in Dunedin on the eve of the legislation and one year later. The findings demonstrated that for these samples, trade union membership in aggregate was not based on compulsion before the legislation and remained at a similar level a year later. Democracy was not restored to the workplace it was already apparent there. This implies that changes in the industrial relations system had already taken place prior to the legislation and it is suggested that these findings are explicable if the effect of the exigencies of the recession on both parries is taken account of In the ensuing discussion, reasons for the persistence of the same level of union membership after the legislation were considered. It was demonstrated that most members li'anted the union to act as their bargaining agent and felt few pressures regarding their choice of employment contract. In other words, employers did not utilise the provisions of the Act to weaken union membership, at least in the short term.

Union Amalgamations and the Decline in Union Density

1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Wooden
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
Marked Decline

Confronted by a marked decline in trade union density, the union movement in Australia bas responded by promoting the restructuring and amolgamation of trade unions. As a result, the number of active trade unions in Australia has fallen markedly since 1990. Despite tbis, the decline in trade union density accelerated during the 1990s, leading some analysts to suggest that the union amalgamation process may actually have been counterproductive in terms of overall trade union membership. This article tests this hypothesis using panel data collected as part of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. A regression model of changes in union density in the period 1989/90 to 1995 is developed and estimated. The results indicate that while declining union numbers have been associated with the decline in union density, none of the blame for the fall can be traced to the amalgamation process.

scholarly journals Explaining leaving union membership by the degree of labour market attachment: Exploring the case of Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Leschke ◽  
Kurt Vandaele
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Non Union ◽  
The Impact

By particularly stressing the weaker labour market attachment of workers with non-standard contracts, this article contributes to the rather unexplored issue of mainly non-union-related reasons for leaving trade unions. Germany has been selected as a case study because German unions experienced a steady decline in membership, while at the same time non-standard employment arrangements increased considerably and more so than the European average. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel data, the authors construct a labour market attachment variable capturing different degrees of attachment. Their analysis shows the impact of labour market attachment and firm-level characteristics on union leaving and points especially to important differences across gender.

Labour market segmentation and mobility as determinants of trade union membership: A study from Denmark

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 824-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Strøby Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Segmentation ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Labour Market Segmentation ◽  
Stable Employment ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Labour Market Mobility

This article analyses if and to what extent labour market segmentation and labour market mobility influence trade union density. Some industries and sectors have stable employment domains and employees stay to a high degree within the industry even if they change jobs. Other industries and sectors have more unstable employments domains and employees to a higher degree shift to employment in other industries and sectors when they move to another job. In this article, it is analysed how differences in segmentation and employee mobility out of an industry influence union density. The analysis is based on a statistical analysis of registry data from Denmark and contains almost 2 million employees employed in 111 different industries (NACE-coded). The analysis shows that trade union density especially in the private sector industries is significantly influenced by level of segmentation and level of mobility.

How can trade unions in Europe connect with young workers?

2018 ◽  
pp. 660-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Vandaele
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Social Custom ◽  
Generational Shift ◽  
Low Rate

Trade union density has almost universally declined across Europe in recent decades, although substantial cross-country variation still exists. This chapter argues that the currently low rate of youth unionization is not the outcome of a generational shift in attitudes and beliefs regarding the value of trade unions. This phenomenon is a result rather of the decline of union membership as a social custom and the diminishing exposure to unionism in the workplace. This chapter argues that unions have a huge amount of agency as they play a particularly important role in the effort to develop effective, tailor-made strategies for organizing young workers.

scholarly journals Stéttarfélagsaðild á Íslandi

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Gylfi Dalmann Aðalsteinsson ◽  
Þórhallur Örn Guðlaugsson
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Fierce Competition ◽  
Second World

Few studies have been conducted on trade union density in Iceland, some has been written about trade unions in Iceland. There has been a lot of debate in Europe over the last 20 years of declining trade union density. There are various reasons for this decline, such as general economic prosperity since the end of the Second World War, EU directives and regulations on increased rights and protection of workers, more focus on work life balance, increased economic growth, higher employment rates, structural change in the labour market and new management practices that encourage employees to be outside of trade unions. Furthermore, as a possible explanation, internationalization and fierce competition of companies in global markets has also been pointed out, greater emphasis on flexibility in employment contracts, job outsourcing and the fact that it is more difficult to get well-educated professionals to be union members. The development of trade union density in Iceland has been different. For the last 20 years, trade union density in Iceland has been very high and remained fairly stable. This paper deals with trade union density in Iceland from 1994 to 2016. Few proposition, according to the authors’ assessment, are put forward that can shed light on high union density in Iceland. They are: 1) closed shop agreements, 2) check-off system, legal obligation for employers to deducts a portion of an employee’s wages to pay union dues, 3) large public sector, 4) strategic work of trade unions to make union membership attracting with various services and benefits for members, 5) trade unions has emphasized on reaching to young people in the labour market, 6) trade union membership granted union members access to pension fund, 7) the “Ghent system” which linked unemployment benefits to union membership.

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