Norm-Based Trade Union Membership: Evidence for Germany

Laszlo Goerke and Markus Pannenberg

No 962, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In the absence of closed-shops and discriminatory wage policies, union membership can be explained by the existence of social norms. We describe a model, incorporating institutional features of the German labour market, which explicitly allows for social custom effects in the determination of union membership. Using panel data for Germany, we find evidence for according effects which restrict freeriding. The impact of social norms tends to increase with net union density. Hence, observed reductions in the demand for union membership can weaken the impact of a norm and accentuate the free-rider problem.

Keywords: trade union membership; Germany; norms; social custom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2003-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: German Economic Review, 2004, 5(4), 481-504

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Journal Article: Norm‐Based Trade Union Membership: Evidence for Germany (2004)
Journal Article: Norm-Based Trade Union Membership: Evidence for Germany (2004)
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