Using a large linked employer-employee data set, this paper studies the extent to which employers insure workers against transitory and permanent firm-level shocks. Particular emphasis is given to the question of whether the amount of wage insurance depends on the nature of industrial relations....

This paper investigates the demise of unionisation in British private sector workplaces over the last quarter century. We show that dramatic union decline has occurred across all types of workplace. Although the union wage premium persists it is quite small in 2004. Negative union effects on...

This paper will approach the role of multinational companies (MNCs) in shaping Hungarian labour relations in a broader context. Departing from an overview of macroeconomic developments of the last two decades, all levels and aspects of labour relations, actors, strategies, institutions and...

Aus historischer Sicht spielten Arbeiterbewegungen eine entscheidende Rolle in der Entwicklung sicherer Arbeitsplätze. Unfallschutz am Arbeitsplatz ist für Unternehmen kostspielig, führt aber aufgrund eines Rückgangs der Krankheitstage zu einem Anstieg des Arbeitsangebots. In einer freien...

This paper tests the pro-competitive effect of trade in the product and labour markets of UK manufacturing sectors between 1988 and 2003 using a two-stage estimation procedure. In the first stage, we use data on 9820 firms from twenty manufacturing sectors to simultaneously estimate mark-up and...

Increased wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers is a stylized fact, which can be observed in many developed countries. Among the explanations advanced for this phenomenon is the increasing globalization, a skill-biased technical progress, restructuring of the firms, and last but...

Since the beginning of the transformation in Poland, trade unions have experienced nearly two decades of declining membership numbers and influence. This article shows that not only the restructuring of the economy but also the trade union policies and organizational forms themselves contributed...

The return of social pacts in the context of the current economic crisis, as seen in southern European countries, invites the revival of the discussion about the development of social dialogue practice in its specific context. Based on a longitudinal analysis we examine the agenda of Spanish...

This article analyzes how Nordic trade unions cooperate with unions in Europe, and what actors and organizations they cooperate with to influence EU policies. We examine both similarities and differences between the Nordic countries and between unions in different sectors, and make some...

Unlike most of the trade unions in European countries, Belgian unions managed to preserve a high and stable union density, and strong institutional positions. However, their situation is not blissful and the condition of both the workforce and the unions has been worsening for three decades....