The Erosion of Union Membership in Germany: Determinants, Densities, Decompositions

Bernd Fitzenberger, Karsten Kohn and Qingwei Wang

No 2193, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Union density in Germany has declined remarkably during the last two decades. We estimate socio-economic and workplace-related determinants of union membership in East and West Germany using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel by means of Chamberlain-Mundlack correlated random effects probit models. Drawing on the estimates, we project net union densities (NUD) and analyze the differences between East and West Germany as well as the corresponding changes in NUD over time. Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions show that changes in the composition of the work force have only played a minor role for the deunionization trends in East and West Germany. In East-West comparison, differences in the characteristics of the work force reflect a lower quality of membership matches in East Germany right after German unification.

Keywords: East Germany; union membership; union density; correlated random effects probit model; decomposition analysis; West Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2006-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (45)

Published - published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2011, 24 (1), 141-165

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Related works:
Journal Article: The erosion of union membership in Germany: determinants, densities, decompositions (2011)
Working Paper: The Erosion of Union Membership in Germany: Determinants, Densities, Decompositions (2006)
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