Towards a Hierarchical Approach to Trade Union Behaviour

Stavros Drakopoulos

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The main starting point of this paper is the idea that trade unions do not only care about real wage level but also about a reference or aspiration wage level. After citing a number of empirical works, the paper argues that the attainment of the reference wage is a priority for the union. This implies that there is a hierarchical character in union objectives. A two-step union utility function is suggested in order to capture the change in priority once the prime objective (the reference wage level) was reached. The analysis is conducted in an efficient bargain framework, and shows that employment-wage combinations come into the picture only when the reference wage is reached. In a unionized economy, this implies that substantial increases in employment will take place only after the union reference wage has been met.

Keywords: Wages; Trade Unions; Trade Union Objectives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J30 J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1995-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Economic Notes No 1.25(1996): pp. 47-56

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/15597/1/MPRA_paper_15597.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
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:pra:mprapa:15597

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().