Trade Unions and Productivity: The German Evidence

This paper provides a brief review of the empirical evidence on union productivity effects in Germany. The influence of trade unions on productivity is the net effect of conflicting forces which can lead to higher or lower productivity. Although the German dual system of workers' representation via unions and works councils is quite favourable to the existence of productivity-enhancing 'voice' effects, various empirical studies have not been able to detect significant positive net effects of these institutions on productivity.     

The 'Skill-oriented' Strategies of German Trade Unions: Their Impact on Efficiency and Equality Objectives

In the present debate about options for the modernization of trade unions, the predominant argument being propounded is that trade unions and workers' representatives at plant level should take more 'responsibility' for the competitiveness of the firms. Among other things, they are advised to enter into 'alliances' with management at the level of qualification politics. This paper considers some important collective bargaining arrangements which the German trade unions have negotiated over the last few years in order to improve mutually beneficial further training decisions within German firms. The emphasis is on the potential of different agreements for achieving efficiency and equality objectives in the context of contemporary changes in production and restructuring processes.     

迎接挑战的利乐公司

最近，利乐包装（昆山）有限公司通过江苏省经贸委对其“外商投资先进企业”的认定，向外资企业规范化方向迈进了一步。利乐公司亚洲与美洲地区总裁博伟森先生说：“利乐公司的营销就是与客户共同成长。”在新的一年里，利乐公司正面临新的挑战与机遇，积极寻求新的发展。霸主地位位于北欧的瑞典，人口８００多万，面积近４５万平方公里，是欧洲第三大国，６２％土地覆盖着广阔的品质优良的森林，造就了欣欣向荣的造纸工业，全球十分之一的纸浆来自瑞典。发达的造纸工业促进了与其相关的包装工业的发展，以生产纸包装而著称于世的利乐包装公…     

Unions and Police Productivity: An Econometric Investigation

We examine the effect of unionization on police productivity in large U.S. metropolitan areas. We define police output in the context of a production function model that draws also on the crime literature. We estimate the resulting model using a data set that includes published and unpublished government statistics as well as our own survey of police departments. Results suggest that the effect of unions on police productivity varies according to categories of police performance. In particular, if performance is stratified according to the severity of crimes, unions seem to have an insignificant effect on police productivity with respect to serious crimes. For minor crimes, unionization alters the parameters of police production function, leading to diminished productivity.     

Unions and Employment Growth: The Canadian Experience

Using panel data from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, the union effect on employment growth is examined. In line with previous North American findings, private sector unions are found to slow employment growth by approximately 2.2 percent per annum. This study is modeled after two recent articles published in this journal; one using the Australian Workplace and Industrial Relations Survey and a subsequent article using the British Workplace and Industrial/Employee Relations Survey.     

Enforcing OSHA: The Role of Labor Unions

This study examines the role of unions in implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) by using a data set that provides information on regulatory enforcement. The analysis demonstrates that unionized establishments are more likely to receive safety and health inspections, face greater scrutiny in the course of those inspections, and pay higher penalties for violating health and safety standards than comparable nonunion establishments. Implementation of OSHA therefore seems highly dependent upon the presence of a union at the workplace.     

Unions and Discriminatory Hiring: Evidence from New Zealand

This study examines the effects of unions on employer compliance with antidiscrimination legislation in New Zealand, using a sample of 227 employers. The results do indicate that unions do reduce discriminatory practices. More specifically, higher levels of unionization do increase the level of employer compliance. However, other union characteristics, such as union size and strike propensity, appeared to have no influence on employer practice.     

Unions and the Employment Growth: Panel Data Evidence

This study adds to the small empirical literature on the impact unions have on employment growth using data from Australia. Unlike previous studies, the data used are from a panel of firms surveyed at two points in time rather than a single cross section. The results indicate a negative union effect on employment in private-sector firms of about 2.5 percent per annum that, despite the very different institutional framework that prevails in Australia, is consistent with results obtained with North American data.     

Credit Unions: Fringe Suppliers or Cournot Competitors?

Recent work has demonstrated the competitive relationship between credit unions and banks in consumer financial services. One issue underlying the nature of competition between the two, however, concerns the most appropriate way to model their interactions.Two possible approaches are the dominant-firm price-leadership model and the generalized Cournot model. In the former model, credit unions act as fringe suppliers who are price-takers in a homogeneous product market. In the latter, they possess (limited) market power. Oneway to distinguish the two is by examining the impact of credit union market shares on their pricing, as the two models imply differing effects. Our results are more consistent with the ``credit unions as fringe suppliers' view. Using a pooled cross-section time seriesof 77 small local consumer lending markets throughout the U.S., each with 10 observations over 5 years, the focus is on a loan product ex ante thought to be sold in local markets, unsecured (non-credit card) loans. For this product, increasing credit union market sharesreduces credit union loan rates, consistent with a fringe supplier hypothesis.     

Unions and Employment Growth: The One Constant?

Sequential analyses of the major workplace data sets available to British researchers—the cross-sectional Workplace Industrial/Employee Relations Surveys (WIRS/WERS)—have revealed shifts in some previously well-established associations between union presence and firm performance, so much so in fact that it has become conventional to speak of a pronounced reduction in the "disadvantages of British unionism." One finding that seems to have persisted in cross section, however, is the negative effect of unions on employment growth. Following on a recent study in this Journal, we reexamine the issue using employment data from a panel of firms surveyed at two points in time rather than a single cross section. We report similar evidence of employment retardation in union regimes. On the other hand, the new data also suggest that some other unfavorable union effects may be longer-standing than previously reported.     

Coercion and the Trade Unions: a Reconsideration of Hayek

Friedrich Hayek was an influential critic of trade unions, especially critical of their presumed ability to act 'coercively'. Without coercive power unions could be benign; with coercive power they were seen to be a force for profound loss and danger. The paper examines Hayek's understanding of the general concept of coercion, and discusses how he applied it to the analysis of trade unions. It also looks at his more speculative treatment of trade unions in a 'non-coercive' world to see what that suggests about his analysis of trade unions. I conclude that Hayek's notion of coercion was unsatisfactory, that he was seriously inconsistent in his use of the term, and that he was hopelessly confused in his analysis of unions.