Working Paper: NBER ID: w12310
Authors: Alex Bryson; Richard B. Freeman
Abstract: Workers have responded differently to declining union density in the US and UK. US workers have unfilled demand for unions whereas many UK workers free-ride at unionized workplaces. To explain this difference, we create a scalar measure of worker needs for representation and relate desire for unionism to this measure and to the choices that the US and UK labor relations systems offer workers. Our measure of needs has similar properties across countries and is the single most important determinant of worker desire for unions and collective representation. Conditional on needs, we find that in both countries workers are more favourable to unions when management is positive toward unions, but also favor them when management strongly opposes unionism, compared to management having a neutral view. Much of the difference in the response of US and UK workers to declining unionism appears to be due to the different institutional arrangements for voice that the countries offer to workers.
Keywords: union representation; worker voice; labor relations; institutional arrangements
JEL Codes: J51; J53; J58
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| worker needs for representation (J53) | desire for unionism (J51) |
| management attitudes (M54) | worker attitudes towards unionism (J51) |
| institutional arrangements (D02) | worker responses to unionization (J51) |
| management attitudes (supportive) (M54) | worker support for unionization (J51) |
| management attitudes (opposed) (M54) | worker support for unionization (J51) |
| management attitudes (neutral) (M54) | worker support for unionization (J51) |
| institutional arrangements (US) (F55) | worker responses to unionism (J51) |
| institutional arrangements (UK) (F55) | worker responses to unionism (J51) |