From Conflict to Compromise: The importance of mediation in Swedish work stoppages 1907-1927

Kerstin Enflo and Tobias Karlsson

No 12586, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Institutions for prevention and resolution of labor market conflicts were introduced all over the world in the early twentieth century. In this paper we analyze the impact of mediation on compromise outcomes in Swedish labor market conflicts, using a dataset of geo-coded strikes and lockouts from 1907 to 1927. Causality is identified by using the distance from the mediator’s residence to the conflict as an instrument. Despite their limited authority and access to economic resources, the presence of mediators in a conflict resulted in about 30 per cent higher probability of a compromise outcome. Mediation was more likely to work as intended in settings where conflicting parties recognized each other and struggled over a prize that could be divided. The results suggest that mediation could have paved the way for a cooperative atmosphere in local labor markets. At the national level such an atmosphere was clearly manifested in the General Agreement in 1938 and with the rise of the Swedish Model.

Keywords: Industrial relations; Strikes; Mediation; Labour market institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J52 N33 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP12586 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Journal Article: From conflict to compromise: the importance of mediation in Swedish work stoppages 1907–1927 (2019)
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:cpr:ceprdp:12586

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP12586

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().