R&D and Unionism: Comparative Evidence from British Companies and Establishments

Naercio Menezes-Filho, David Ulph and John van Reenen

ILR Review, 1998, vol. 52, issue 1, 45-63

Abstract: U.S. research has found that unionization adversely affects research and development investment, consistent with the view that labor unions' rent-seeking activities act as a tax on innovation. In this U.K. study, preliminary analysis of two datasets (a cross-section of plants and a company panel for the years 1983–90) shows the same negative correlation. This correlation completely disappears, however, when controls are included for such factors as cohort effects and the availability of innovative technology in the industry. Moreover, R&D intensity appears to have been higher in enterprises where there were low levels of union density than in those where there was no union presence. Some evidence suggests that the difference between U.K and U.S. results may be due to cross-country differences in the prioritization of non-pay issues in bargaining.

Date: 1998
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979399805200103 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:52:y:1998:i:1:p:45-63

DOI: 10.1177/001979399805200103

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in ILR Review from Cornell University, ILR School
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().