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Changes in Union Membership Over Time: A Panel Analysis for West Germany

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  • Martin Beck
  • Bernd Fitzenberger
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    Abstract

    Despite the apparent stability of the wage bargaining institutions in West Germany, aggregate union membership has been declining dramatically since the early 1990s. However, aggregate gross membership numbers do not distinguish between employment status and it is impossible to disaggregate these sufficiently. This paper uses four waves of the German Socio-economic Panel in 1985, 1989, 1993, and 1998 to perform a panel analysis of net union membership among employees. We estimate a correlated random-effects probit model suggested by Chamberlain (Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. II, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1984) to take proper account of individual-specific effects. Our results suggest that at the individual level the propensity to be a union member has not changed considerably over time. Thus, the aggregate decline in membership is due to composition effects. We also use the estimates to predict net union density at the industry level based on the IAB employment subsample for the time period 1985-97. Copyright 2004 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by CEIS in its journal LABOUR.

    Volume (Year): 18 (2004)
    Issue (Month): 3 (09)
    Pages: 329-362

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    Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:18:y:2004:i:3:p:329-362

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    Cited by:
    1. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2007. "Trade Union Membership and Works Councils in West Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 2635, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    2. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Kohn, Karsten & Wang, Qingwei, 2006. "The Erosion of Union Membership in Germany: Determinants, Densities, Decompositions," IZA Discussion Papers 2193, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    3. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg, 2010. "Trade Union Membership and Dismissals," CESifo Working Paper Series 3196, CESifo Group Munich.
    4. Gürtzgen, Nicole, 2005. "Rent-Sharing and Collective Bargaining Coverage: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-90, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
    5. Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2008. "The Aging of the unions in West Germany, 1980-2006," Working Paper Series in Economics 93, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    6. Kelchtermans, Stijn & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2009. "The Great Divide in Scientific Productivity. Why the Average Scientist Does Not Exist," Working Papers 2009/01, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    7. Robert Orlowski & Regina T. Riphahn, 2011. "Lohnentwicklung im Lebenszyklus - Eine Analyse von Ausmaß, Begründung und Heterogenität von Lohnsteigerungen," Working Papers 096, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    8. Addison, John T. & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2006. "The (Parlous) State of German Unions," IZA Discussion Papers 2000, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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