The Determinants of Trade Union Membership in Britain: A Survey of the Literature

ILR Review ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Mason ◽  
Peter Bain
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Environmental Determinants ◽  
Union Growth ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Business Cycle

Trade union density, defined as the number of union members divided by the total number of workers, fell in Britain from 55% in 1979 to about 41% in 1989. (By comparison, the corresponding U.S. figures for those years are 23% and 16%.) Even before the decline began, British scholars and practitioners began focusing increasing attention on the determinants of union growth and decline. This literature review traces debate on the subject in Britain to the work of George Bain and his colleagues starting in the mid-1970s, and examines several key contributions of more recent years. The authors differentiate “structuralist” studies, which emphasize environmental determinants of union membership (such as the business cycle), from “interventionist” studies, which place more emphasis on the influence of unions themselves (through the involvement of full-time officials in recruiting, for example).

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.

A Half Century of Trade Union Membership. The Cyclical Macro-Determinants of Postwar Union Growth in Belgium

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Vandaele
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Half Century ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Union Growth ◽  
Seminal Contribution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Leftist Parties

Based on the seminal contribution of Bain and Elsheikh, this article explains the ebb and flow in trade union membership in Belgium from 1948 to 1995. With only four explanatory variables, the model clarifies more than 75 per cent of the fluctuations in Belgian trade union membership. The results show that rises in inflation, real wages and, due to the Ghent system, unemployment have a positive impact on unionization. Although there is an enforcement effect, a saturation effect takes over, indicating that further union growth is hampered by the union's own size. Mainly due to the 'Allgemeinkoalitionsfähighkeit' of the Belgian government system, the impact of leftist parties on unionization is not significant in a quantitative framework.

Union Growth and the Business Cycle: An Econometric Analysis.

1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 537
Author(s):  
William Kennedy ◽  
George S. Bain ◽  
Farouk Elsheikh
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Econometric Analysis ◽  
Union Growth ◽  
The Business Cycle

Model of a Regional Business Cycle Indicatorforthe Province of Warmia and Mazury

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-271
Author(s):  
Rafał Warżała
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
National Level ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Regional Basis ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Cycle Indicator

Business cycle analysis at the national level does not have to be consistent with the economic situation of its individual regions. Diversity in the structure and development dynamics of the individual regions isalso reflected in the range of sensitivity to business cycle changes. Anevaluation was conducted of the suitability of multi-dimensional comparative analysis methods to evaluate the business cycle in the economy on a regional basis based on the example of Warmia and Mazury.The economy of Warmia and Mazury and its sensitivity to macroeconomic disturbances was the subject of the analysis. The business cycle studies by region conducted in Poland are based on so-called "business cycle tests" which are characterised by a high level of subjectivism. They are based on the results of questionnaire-based surveys conducted among entrepreneurs and, as a consequence, it seems justified to build a business cycle indicator for the province of Warmia and Mazury based on "hard" economic data. The proposal of the business cycle indicator for the region of Warmia and Mazury is based on the key economic dimensions for the region. The currently applied methods for elimination of irregular fluctuations and location of turning points were used for designing it. The outcome of the above measures offers the possibility to present the value of the current and prognostic business cycle indicator for Warmia and Mazury with monthly frequency. 

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 Part-time Employment and Business Cycle in Central and Eastern Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Fialová
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Significant Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Part Time ◽  
The Business Cycle

Abstract This article explores the development of part-time employment in Central and Eastern Europe and compares it to Western Europe. On the macro level it examines the role of the business cycle and its effect on part-time employment in the two groups of countries since 2001. The key result reveals that contrary to the West, the business cycle development exerts a significant negative effect on the part-time employment rate in Eastern Europe. When the economy operates below its potential, part-time employment tends to grow more than full-time employment. This finding is consistent with the labour demand effect and reflects the pursuit of flexibility by firms as well as the adjustment in composition of employment to changing economic conditions. The countercyclical effect is even stronger for involuntary part-time employment. Separate analyses of individual demographic groups of workers reveal a significant negative effect of the business cycle on part-time employment of older workers and male prime-age workers in Eastern Europe. In contrast, the effect is insignificant for young workers and unclear for prime-age women.

Social Customs and Trade Union Membership: A Multi-Level Analysis of Workplace Union Density Using Micro-Data

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lyhne Ibsen ◽  
Jonas Toubøl ◽  
Daniel Sparwath Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Social Customs ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Level Analysis

Walter Eucken’s Concept of Economic Order and Business Cycle Analysis

ORDO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-46
Author(s):  
Lachezar Grudev
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Economic Order ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Business Cycle

Abstract Walter Eucken formulated his concept of economic order as a solution to the tension between theoretical approaches and empirical observation that had constituted the conflict between the Austrian School of Economics and the German Historical School. Previous literature has established the linkage between the German-language business cycle debate of the late 1920 s and Eucken’s concept of economic order. This paper discusses how his concept of economic order can help to understand the severity of economic crises and thus concentrates on the elements constituting the economic order, i. e. its ideal types, with whose help Eucken aimed to derive hypothetical propositions. Based on the writings of his students Leonhard Miksch and Friedrich A. Lutz who underscored the role of equilibrium in business cycle research, this paper suggests that abstract theory of economic crises should employ ideal types as models and thus study how exogenous shocks affect the endogenous economic variables. The subject of inquiry should be oriented to the process of equilibrium reestablishment. Crucial for this paper is that the equilibrium reestablishment depends on institutional factors. This method to explain economic crises represents the link which connects the business cycle debate of the 1920 s and 1930 s to the subsequent emergence of the ordoliberal theory of institutions and orders.

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