This paper studies the determinants of immigration policy in an economy with entrepreneurs and workers where a trade union has monopoly power over wages. The presence of the union leads a benevolent government to implement a high level of immigration and induces a welfare loss not only from an...

The paper examines recent evidence on the erosion of the German industrial relations model. Although its coverage has declined, much of this has occurred in smaller and newer establishments, and compared with Britain, it has remained solid in the areas of Germany's traditional industrial...

Veränderte gesellschaftlich-politische Rahmenbedingungen und neuartige Branchen-, Tarif- und Beschäftigtenstrukturen gelten als zentrale Herausforderungen der deutschen Industriegewerkschaften. Insbesondere deren erhebliche Mitgliederverluste seit den 1990er Jahren haben zu vielfältigen, oft...

Seit einigen Jahren veröffentlicht der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) den Index "Gute Arbeit", der die Qualität der Arbeit aus Sicht der Beschäftigten messen soll. Der Index vermittelt ein Bild "mittelmäßiger Arbeit" in Deutschland, weil er die Messlatte für das Prädikat "gute Arbeit"...

In this paper we analyse the contribution of union activity to reducing earnings inequality. Given the specific nature of the system of industrial relations, Italian unions may contribute to inequality reduction through either national bargaining (i.e. reducing between-sector differentials)...

Often the high level of unemployment in Germany is explained by a lack of flexibility, over-regulation in the labour market and disincentives of the social security system. However, these institutional effects are difficult to test by means of data from only one country. Cross-country...

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....

The fraction of works councillors belonging to a trade union in Germany is much higher than union density among employees. If works councils represent the face of unions, union membership of employees should be related positively to the existence of works councils and their proximity to unions....