Who Are the Workers Who Never Joined a Union? Empirical Evidence from Germany

Claus Schnabel () and Joachim Wagner ()

No 1658, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union nevermembership in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in Germany have never been members of a trade union. Individuals’ probability of nevermembership is significantly affected by their personal characteristics (in particular age, education and status at work), their political orientation and (to a lesser degree) their family background, and by broad location. In addition, occupational and workplace characteristics play a significant role. Most important in this regard is the presence of a union at the workplace.

Keywords: union membership; never-membership; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-edu
Date: 2005-07
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Working Paper: Who are the workers who never joined a union? Empirical evidence from Germany (2005)
Working Paper: Who are the workers who never joined a union? Empirical evidence from Germany (2005)
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