This study examines why unions, after winning certification rights, fail to secure agreements in roughly one of every four first-contract negotiations. Hypotheses are derived from Chamberlain's theory that the relative power of the negotiating parties is a function of the costs of agreeing and...

This study tests a model in which programmatic features of joint union-management programs, the exercise of relative power options by employers, and organizational constraints are hypothesized to influence the intensity of collaborative efforts and, in turn, changes in employee-supervisor...

This study analyzes determinants of union election outcomes at the level of the work unit. Within a theoretical framework of utility maximization, voting behavior is modeled as a function of the social psychology of groups, the economic and sociopolitical environment, NLRB procedures, and the...

Although managers of multinational companies have identified labor practices and regulations, access to skilled labor, and similar factors as important considerations in foreign direct investment decision-making, few studies have empirically examined the influence of industrial relations factors...

This study investigates the effectiveness of employee participation in achieving product quality improvement in union versus nonunion settings and in programs unilaterally administered by management versus programs with joint union-management administration. An analysis of data from two surveys...

The authors develop a model predicting which of three broad labor-relations strategies-union avoidance, union-management collaboration, or a mixed strategy combining elements of union avoidance and collaboration-a company will adopt. A multinomial logit estimation using data on 58 large...

Previous research has suggested that U.S. presidents appoint members to the National Labor Relations Board who reflect the administration's own union-management predilections. No adequate empirical evidence has yet been reported, however, to show that, once appointed, Board members act in a...

The authors develop a model of NLRB decision-making that, unlike the models employed in previous studies, distinguishes between decision-making in more important, complex cases and less important, simpler cases. Using a representative sample of Board decisions over 1957-86, they find that in...

This study examines the effect on job search behavior of changes in unemployment insurance (UI) provisions and in labor market conditions. There are good reasons for assuming, on the one hand, that more generous benefits prolong job search and, on the other hand, that an increase in the rate of...

This analysis examines whether union representation positively or negatively influences the effectiveness of employee participation programs and group-based incentives in improving firm performance. Examined at the firm level, a model of the independent and interaction effects of participation,...