Union free-riding in Britain and New Zealand

Alex Bryson

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The percentage of workers who choose not to join the union available to them at their workplace has been rising in Britain and New Zealand. Social custom, union instrumentality, the fixed costs of joining, employee perceptions of management attitudes to unionization and employee problems at work all influence the propensity to free-ride. Ideological convictions regarding the role of unions also play some role, as do private excludable goods. There is little indication of employer-inspired policies substituting for unionization where unions are already present. Having accounted for all these factors, free-riding remains more common in New Zealand than in Britain.

Keywords: Free-riding; trade union; New Zealand; Britain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2006-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19873/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Union Free-Riding in Britain and New Zealand (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:19873

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