Union Decline in Britain

David Blanchflower and Alex Bryson

No 3436, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper investigates the demise of unionisation in British private sector workplaces over the last quarter century. We show that dramatic union decline has occurred across all types of workplace. Although the union wage premium persists it is quite small in 2004. Negative union effects on employment growth and financial performance are largely confined to the 1980s. Managerial perceptions of the climate of relations between managers and workers have deteriorated since the early 1980s across the whole private sector, whether the workplace is unionised or not.

Keywords: wages; employment growth; financial performance; trade unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2008-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-his, nep-lab and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Published - published in: Brown, W. et al. (eds.) - The Evolution of the Modern Workplace, Cambridge University Press, 2009

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Related works:
Working Paper: Union Decline in Britain (2008)
Working Paper: Union decline in Britain (2008)
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