IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v54y2016i2p334-357.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Foundations of Social Partnership

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Behrens
  • Markus Helfen

Abstract

‘Social partnership’ between capital and labour is a distinctive characteristic of German industrial relations. Based on a survey of 142 German employers’ associations, we investigate differences in their support for partnership with unions. We find that organizational characteristics (e.g. membership density) as well as positive experiences with their union counterparts explain why employers’ associations adhere to the norms of social partnership. Building on an analysis that combines political and organizational institutionalism, we find that the positive evaluation of social partnership held by employers is associated with their positive experiences in more recent interactions with unions in collective bargaining, a more encompassing definition of an association's policy domain and a long-term history of mutual collaboration.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Behrens & Markus Helfen, 2016. "The Foundations of Social Partnership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(2), pages 334-357, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:54:y:2016:i:2:p:334-357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/bjir.12151
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld & Thomas Kochan, 2004. "Taking Stock: Collective Bargaining at the Turn of the Century," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(1), pages 3-26, October.
    2. Nicolas Bacon & Paul Blyton, 2007. "Conflict for Mutual Gains?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 814-834, July.
    3. Ahrne, Göran & Brunsson, Nils, 2005. "Organizations and meta-organizations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 429-449, December.
    4. Olaf Hübler & Uwe Jirjahn, 2003. "Works Councils and Collective Bargaining in Germany: The Impact on Productivity and Wages," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 50(4), pages 471-491, September.
    5. Hall, Peter A. & Gingerich, Daniel W., 2009. "Varieties of Capitalism and Institutional Complementarities in the Political Economy: An Empirical Analysis," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 449-482, July.
    6. Paul Willman, 2001. "The Viability of Trade Union Organization: A Bargaining Unit Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 97-117, March.
    7. David E. Guest & Riccardo Peccei, 2001. "Partnership at Work: Mutuality and the Balance of Advantage," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 207-236, June.
    8. Oliver E. Williamson & Michael L. Wachter & Jeffrey E. Harris, 1975. "Understanding the Employment Relation: The Analysis of Idiosyncratic Exchange," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(1), pages 250-278, Spring.
    9. Kathleen Thelen, 2009. "Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 471-498, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Ashwin & Chikako Oka & Elke Schuessler & Rachel Alexander & Nora Lohmeyer, 2020. "Spillover Effects across Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements: The Potential and Limits of Collective Action in Global Supply Chains," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 995-1020, August.
    2. Sarah Ashwin & Chikako Oka & Elke Schüssler & Rachel Alexander & Nora Lohmeyer, 2020. "Spillover Effects Across Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements: The Potential and Limits of Collective Action in Global Supply Chains," Post-Print hal-02952125, HAL.
    3. Jirjahn, Uwe, 2021. "Membership in Employers' Associations and Collective Bargaining Coverage in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 14783, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Martins, Pedro S., 2020. "What Do Employers' Associations Do?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 496, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Uwe Jirjahn, 2023. "Membership in employers’ associations and collective bargaining coverage in Germany," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 798-826, August.
    6. Marta Martínez Matute & Pedro S. Martins, 2022. "How representative are social partners in Europe? The role of dissimilarity," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 36(4), pages 424-444, December.
    7. Ashwin, Sarah & Oka, Chikako & Schüßler, Elke & Alexander, Rachel & Lohmeyer, Nora, 2020. "Spillover effects across transnational industrial relations agreements: the potential and limits of collective action in global supply chains," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100997, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weng, David H. & Peng, Mike W., 2018. "Home bitter home: How labor protection influences firm offshoring," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 632-640.
    2. Muhamamd Zia-ur Rehman & Riasat Ali Khan & Noor Hassan, 2016. "Investigating the Role of Beliefs and Professional Values in HR Management," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 1(1), pages 150-166, June.
    3. Marsden, David, 2015. "The future of the German industrial relations model," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 48(2), pages 169-187.
    4. Markus Grillitsch, 2014. "Regional Transformation: Institutional Change and Economic Evolution in Regions," ERSA conference papers ersa14p1481, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Clément Brébion, 2020. "The impact of works council membership on wages in Germany: a case of strategic discrimination?," Working Papers halshs-02436686, HAL.
    6. Martí López‐Andreu, 2019. "Employment Institutions under Liberalization Pressures: Analysing the Effects of Regulatory Change on Collective Bargaining in Spain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 328-349, June.
    7. Markus Grillitsch & Josephine V Rekers, 2016. "How does multi-scalar institutional change affect localized learning processes? A case study of the med-tech sector in Southern Sweden," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(1), pages 154-171, January.
    8. Addison John T. & Teixeira Paulino, 2019. "Workplace Employee Representation and Industrial Relations Performance: New Evidence from the 2013 European Company Survey," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(1), pages 111-154, January.
    9. Clément Brébion, 2021. "The works council wage premium in Germany: a case of strategic discrimination?," Working Papers halshs-03100169, HAL.
    10. Grillitsch, Markus, 2014. "Institutional Change and Economic Evolution in Regions," Papers in Innovation Studies 2014/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    11. Marc van Essen & J. (Hans) van Oosterhout & Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens, 2013. "Competition and Cooperation in Corporate Governance: The Effects of Labor Institutions on Blockholder Effectiveness in 23 European Countries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 530-551, April.
    12. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Hübler, Olaf & Kraft, Kornelius, 2008. "Flexibilisierungspotenziale bei heterogenen Arbeitsmärkten : eine Einführung (Potentials for increasing flexibility in heterogeneous labour markets : an introduction)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 41(2/3), pages 95-116.
    13. Kamini Gupta & Donal Crilly & Thomas Greckhamer, 2020. "Stakeholder engagement strategies, national institutions, and firm performance: A configurational perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(10), pages 1869-1900, October.
    14. William K. Roche, 2021. "The genesis of private dispute resolution in Irish industrial relations," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 82-106, January.
    15. Bernhard Ebbinghaus & J. Timo Weishaupt, 2022. "Readjusting unemployment protection in Europe: how crises reshape varieties of labour market regimes," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 181-194, May.
    16. Lloyd Ulman, 1992. "Why Should Human Resource Managers Pay High Wages?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 177-212, June.
    17. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2011. "Schooling, employer learning, and internal labor market effect: Wage dynamics and human capital investment in the Japanese steel industry, 1930-1960s," MPRA Paper 30597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz & Martha Prevezer, 2015. "Elites, Thickets and Institutions: French Resistance versus German Adaptation to Economic Change, 1945-2015," Working Papers 63, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    19. Tobias Brändle & Laszlo Goerke, 2018. "The one constant: a causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked‐employer‐employee data," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 445-478, November.
    20. Ben Kriechel & Samuel Muehlemann & Harald Pfeifer & Miriam Schütte, 2014. "Works Councils, Collective Bargaining, and Apprenticeship Training – Evidence From German Firms," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 199-222, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:54:y:2016:i:2:p:334-357. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.