"In Germany, trade unions and employers' associations play a role not only in wage determination but also in issues of social policy and labour law. While the majority of firms are organized in employers' associations, less than one quarter of employees are members of a trade union. Both social...

Mit den fortgesetzten Streiks bei der Deutschen Bahn und der Lufthansa wächst der Unmut über die Spartengewerkschaften. Sollte der Gesetzgeber die Tarifpluralität und das Handeln kleiner Gewerkschaften beschneiden? Norbert Berthold, Universität Würzburg, plädiert für Tarifpluralität...

In Germany, trade unions and employers' associations play a role not only in wage determination but also in issues of social policy and labour law. While the majority of firms are organized in employers' associations, less than one quarter of employees are members of a trade union. Both social...

An empirical analysis of various waves of the ALLBUS social survey shows that union density fell substantially in West Germany from 1980 to 2000. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and women and for different groups of the workforce. Repeated crosssectional analyses suggest that a...

Using representative individual-level data from the first round of the European Social Survey fielded in 2002/03, this paper provides an empirical analysis of unionization in 18 countries of the European Union. We show that union density varies considerably in Europe, ranging from 84 per cent in...

An empirical analysis of various waves of the ALLBUS social survey shows that union density fell substantially in western Germany from 1980 to 2004 and in eastern Germany from 1992 to 2004. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and women and for different groups of the workforce....

Using data from the social survey ALLBUS for West Germany in the period 1980 to 2006, this paper demonstrates that union members are on average older than non-unionized employees. The probability of being unionized shows the inverted U-shaped pattern in age conjectured by Blanchflower (BJIR...

Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union never-membership in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in Germany have never been members of a...

Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union never-membership in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in Germany have never been members of a...