Folklore has it that the comparatively low proportion of self-employed in Germany is in part due to a habit that might …

western Germany from 1980 to 2004 and in eastern Germany from 1992 to 2004. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and … worker (significant in western Germany only). A decomposition analysis shows that differences in union density over time and … between eastern and western Germany to a large degree cannot be explained by differences in the characteristics of employees …