In Germany, trade unions and employers associations play a role not only in wage determination but also in social …

In Germany, there is no trade union membership wage premium, while the membership fee amounts to 1% of the gross wage … evidence for a private gain from trade union membership which has hitherto not been documented: in West Germany, union members … average partial effect of union membership. -- dismissal ; free-riding ; trade union membership ; survey data …

for social custom effects in the determination of union membership. Using panel data for Germany, we find evidence for …In the absence of closed-shops and discriminatory wage policies, union membership can be explained by the existence of …, observed reductions in the demand for union membership can weaken the impact of a norm and accentuate the free-rider problem …