Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/86076 
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 03-005/1
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
Trade unions tend to reduce the dispersion of wages among their members. Skilled workers may therefore have an incentive to separate from an encompassing union and organize into a separate craft union. In this paper, we examine a theoretical model to gain insight into the determinants of the number of trade unions at a firm. We show that imperfect competition in the product market may drive skilled and unskilled workers together, even though unskilled workers use their political power in the trade union to extract rents from the skilled workers. Additionally, we examine the influence of several features of production technology on trade union structure.
Subjects: 
product market competition
trade union structure
wage dispersion
JEL: 
J31
J51
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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