Annex Table 2.C.2. Effect of various composition changes on trade union density

This study examines the determinants of companies’ reporting decisions. We employ three measures at the country-level: (1) investor protection, (2) trade union density, and (3) economic development. Regression model analysis was used to measure whether companies used integrated reports (IR) or traditional sustainable reports. Using sample data from Fortune Global 300 for the year 2017, which is the latest available data, this paper follows logistic regression models. The study finds out that the probabilities of publication of IR are high in countries with high trade union density, weak investor protection, and low levels of economic development. These results help companies and managers to better cope with current business environments.

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Annex Table 2.C.1. Change in workforce composition explains generally a small part of change in trade union density

Negotiating Our Way Up ◽

10.1787/a983b425-en ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Trade Union ◽

Union Density ◽

Workforce Composition

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Een halve eeuw vakbondslidmaatschap : Een verkennende longitudinale studie naar enkele cyclische determinanten voor de ledenontwikkeling van de Belgische vakbonden, 1946-1995

Res Publica ◽

10.21825/rp.v46i1.18419 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 6-32

Author(s):

Kurt Vandaele

Keyword(s):

Trade Union ◽

Union Membership ◽

Trade Unions ◽

Econometric Model ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Union Density ◽

Free Riding ◽

Structural Variable ◽

Explanatory Variables ◽

The Impact

This article explains the ebb and flow in Belgian trade union membership from 1946 to 1995 by replicating the econometric model by Bain and Elsheikhn in which changes in macro-economic variables are highly significant. Since the automatic indexation of wages and the extension of collective labour agreements invite free riding, the relevance of the change in inflation and real wage is quite striking. However, the free riding-effect is slowed down by the institutionalised presence of the trade unions on the work floor. The Ghent system explains the positive impact of the unemployment rate . The model is furthermore improved by the trade union density as a structural variable. The linear form reflects the enforcement effect, while the quadratic form mirrors the saturation effect on the trade union membership. Mainly due to the 'Allgemeinkoalitionsfähighkeit' of the Belgian government system, the impact of left parties on union growth and decline is not significant in a quantitative framework. With only four explanatory variables the model clarifies more than 75% of the fluctuations in Belgian trade union membership.

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European trade union cooperation, union density and employee attitudes to unions

Transfer European Review of Labour and Research ◽

10.1177/1024258920933118 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 345-358

Author(s):

Bengt Furåker

Keyword(s):

Trade Union ◽

Trade Unions ◽

Union Density ◽

Employee Attitudes ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Social Survey ◽

International Social Survey Programme ◽

European Trade ◽

Using Data ◽

International Social

European trade unions have much to gain from cooperating with each other. Such cooperation does exist, but it is still fairly limited and many obstacles need to be overcome if cooperation is to be improved. According to our survey data, higher-level union officials regard differences concerning financial resources and national labour market regulations to be particularly substantial barriers to cooperation. The enormously varying union density across Europe, and its general decrease, also creates barriers. Therefore, employee attitudes to unions are examined using data from the International Social Survey Programme. As expected, union members tend to be more positive about trade unions than non-members. The most interesting finding, however, is that employees in some countries with low union density exhibit fairly positive views or at least views that are not less positive than what we find among employees in many countries with higher density rates. This suggests that there is potential for recruiting members.

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Financialization, Technological Change, and Trade Union Decline

Socio-Economic Review ◽

10.1093/ser/mwx022 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 477-502 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Brett Meyer

Keyword(s):

Technological Change ◽

Trade Union ◽

Union Density ◽

Equity Market ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Wage Bargaining ◽

Market Development ◽

Institutional Structures ◽

Biased Technological Change ◽

Negative Effect

Abstract Recent research finds that financialization and technological change have had a variety of negative effects on labor, including reducing low-skill workers’ wages and increasing income inequality. In this article, I examine the effect on trade unions of one type of financialization, equity market development and one type of technological change, routine-biased technological change. I argue that we should conceptualize trade union strength in two dimensions: (a) the strength of their institutional structures, such as the degree of wage bargaining coordination and the degree to which firms can deviate from collective agreements; (b) the strength of their membership. Using data for 21 OECD countries from 1970 to 2010, I find a negative effect of equity market development on unions’ institutional structures, but not on union membership. Contrarily, I find that routine-biased technological change has a negative effect on union density, but an inconsistent relationship with the strength of unions’ institutional structures.

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