Declining Union Density in the 1980s: What Do Panel Data Tell Us?

Martyn Andrews · Robin A Naylor

22 citations0/0 files storedBritish Journal of Industrial Relations

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Labor Movements and Unions Labor market dynamics and wage inequality Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper we analyse data from the 1980—4 WIRS panel for the light they can shed on the causes of the decline in aggregate trade union density in the UK. We argue that, contrary to conventional wisdom, intra‐establishment union density did, on average, decline between 1980 and 1984. This suggests that a traditional compositional change story is untenable. We proceed to investigate the correlation of intra‐establishment change with variables suggested by the various hypotheses advanced to explain declining density over the period. We find some evidence for an influence of intra‐establishment compositional changes, but the most statistically significant variables are wages and unemployment. These take the wrong sign, however, to support the business cycle interpretation of falling aggregate union density.

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References

1962Labor as a Quasi-Fixed Factor 1990Union Wage Differentials, Product Market Influences and the Division of Rents 1990The Impact of Industrial Relations Legislation on British Union Density 1989Water Notes Dry Up: The Impact of the Donovan Reform Proposals and Thatcherism At Work on Labour Productivity in British Manufacturing Industry 1991The Effects of Unions on Organisational Change and Employment 1987British Workplace Industrial Relations 1980–1984 1990Explanations of the Decline in Trade Union Density In Britain: an Appraisal 1993An economic theory of the open shop trade union

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2012Where Do Unions Add Value? Predominant Organizing Principle, Union Strength and Manufacturing Productivity Growth in the OECD 1997Deunionisation and Union Establishment: the Impact of Workplace Change, HRM Strategies and Workplace Unionism 2000What do Unions Do in Europe 1995Unions in Decline 1997The changing determinants of U.S. Unionism: An analysis using worker-level data

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