Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/62546 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6792
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Surveying some recent data and the empirical literature from various disciplines, this paper attempts to shed some light on what we know and don't know about (trends in) unionization and its determinants in advanced countries. It shows that there are relatively few robust stylized facts, for instance that unionization is positively related to public sector employment, to establishment size and to the business cycle (with union growth being procyclical). The existence of a union-administered unemployment insurance and unions' presence at the workplace also play a positive role for (changes in) unionization. However, some seemingly obvious explanations for the decline in unionization over the last decades do not hold on closer scrutiny. Various trends like the ongoing economic globalization and changes in the sectoral structure of the economy and the composition of the workforce do not seem to have impeded union membership and density everywhere. Similarly, the trend towards decentralization of collective bargaining has not resulted in large-scale deunionization. It also remains an open question whether changes in social values, rising individualism, and changing attitudes of employees towards unions have affected or will affect unionization negatively.
Subjects: 
trade unions
union membership
union density
unionization
JEL: 
J51
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
224.45 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.