IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v60y2015i2p165-189.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Trade Unions: Structure, Wages and Environmental Technology

Author

Listed:
  • Elias Asproudis
  • Maria Gil-Moltó

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of trade union structure on firms’ technological choices when unions care about environmental protection. We compare a decentralized with a centralized union structure in a Cournot duopoly. Our results suggest that a decentralized structure provides higher incentives for the investment in cleaner technologies, although emissions may be lower under a centralized structure. The effect of the environmental damage parameter on wages and output may be non-monotonic. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Elias Asproudis & Maria Gil-Moltó, 2015. "Green Trade Unions: Structure, Wages and Environmental Technology," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 60(2), pages 165-189, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:60:y:2015:i:2:p:165-189
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-014-9768-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-014-9768-x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-014-9768-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey, 2004. "Unionisation structures and innovation incentives," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages 149-165, March.
    2. Ulph, A. M. & Ulph, D. T., 1994. "Labour markets and innovation: Ex-post bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 195-210, January.
    3. Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2005. "Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 616-636, June.
    4. Alessandro Bonanno & Bill Blome, 2001. "The environmental movement and labor in global capitalism: Lessons from the case of the Headwaters Forest," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(4), pages 365-381, December.
    5. Constantine Manasakis & Emmanuel Petrakis, 2009. "Union structure and firms' incentives for cooperative R&D investments," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(2), pages 665-693, May.
    6. Emmanuel Petrakis & Eftichios S. Sartzetakis & Anastasios Xepapadeas (ed.), 1999. "Environmental Regulation and Market Power," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1553.
    7. Emmanuel Petrakis & Minas Vlassis, 2004. "Endogenous wage bargaining institutions in oligopolistic sectors," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 24(1), pages 55-73, July.
    8. Robert N. Stavins, 1998. "What Can We Learn from the Grand Policy Experiment? Lessons from SO2 Allowance Trading," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 69-88, Summer.
    9. Tauman, Y & Weiss, Y, 1987. "Labor Unions and the Adoption of New Technology," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(4), pages 477-501, October.
    10. Oswald, Andrew J, 1982. "The Microeconomic Theory of the Trade Union," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 576-595, September.
    11. Requate, Till, 2005. "Dynamic incentives by environmental policy instruments--a survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 175-195, August.
    12. Peter Kennedy, 1999. "Learning About Environmental Damage: Implications for Emissions Trading," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(5), pages 1313-1327, November.
    13. A. Mukherjee & U. Broll & S. Mukherjee, 2008. "Unionized labor market and licensing by a monopolist," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 59-79, February.
    14. Calabuig, Vicente & Gonzalez-Maestre, Miguel, 2002. "Union structure and incentives for innovation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 177-192, March.
    15. Lopez, Monica Correa & Naylor, Robin A., 2004. "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential: A reversal result in a differentiated duopoly with wage bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 681-696, June.
    16. Oswald, Andrew J, 1985. " The Economic Theory of Trade Unions: An Introductory Survey," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(2), pages 160-193.
    17. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Straume, Odd Rune & Sorgard, Lars, 2005. "Downstream merger with upstream market power," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 717-743, April.
    18. Brian K. Obach, 2002. "Labor‐Environmental Relations: An Analysis of the Relationship between Labor Unions and Environmentalists," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(1), pages 82-100, March.
    19. Arijit Mukherjee, 2008. "Unionised Labour Market and Strategic Production Decision of a Multinational," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(532), pages 1621-1639, October.
    20. Van Reenen, John & Menezes-Filho, Naercio, 2003. "Unions and Innovation: A Survey of the Theory and Empirical Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 3792, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Chao, Hung-Po & Wilson, Robert, 1993. "Option Value of Emission Allowances," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 233-249, September.
    22. Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 1989. "Labor markets and innovation," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 403-423, December.
    23. Menezes-Filho, Naercio & Ulph, David & Van Reenen, John, 1998. "The determination of R&D: Empirical evidence on the role of unions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 919-930, May.
    24. Dobson, Paul W., 1994. "Multifirm unions and the incentive to adopt pattern bargaining in oligopoly," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 87-100, January.
    25. Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 1998. "Labour markets, bargaining and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 931-939, May.
    26. Maria Paz Espinosa & Changyong Rhee, 1989. "Efficient Wage Bargaining as a Repeated Game," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(3), pages 565-588.
    27. Fredriksson, Per G. & Gaston, Noel, 1999. "The "greening" of trade unions and the demand for eco-taxes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 663-686, November.
    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. Domenico Buccella & Luciano Fanti & Luca Gori, 2023. "Managerial firms’ profitability, unions, and environmental taxes," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(2), pages 575-598, June.
    2. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios & Tian, Mo, 2021. "Climate solidarity, green trade unions and timing of technological choice," MPRA Paper 106329, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Elias Asproudis & Nadeem Khan & Nada Korac-Kakabadse, 2019. "Game of Regional Environmental Policy: Europe and US," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios & Tian, Mo, 2022. "Timing of environmental technological choice and trade unions' climate solidarity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    5. Buccella, Domenico & Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca, 2023. "Green subsidies as strategic trade policy tools," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1240, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Buccella, Domenico & Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca, 2022. "‘Green’ managerial delegation theory," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 223-249, June.
    7. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios, 2021. "Bargaining for Community Fishing Quotas," MPRA Paper 107409, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Luciano Fanti & Domenico Buccella, 2021. "Pollution, green union, and network industry," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 48(2 Year 20), pages 139-173, December.
    9. Buccella Domenico & Wojna Michał, 2019. "”Green” Managerial Delegation and Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility in Different Market Structures," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 27(4), pages 2-22, December.
    10. Buccella, Domenico & Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca, 2021. "To abate, or not to abate? A strategic approach on green production in Cournot and Bertrand duopolies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Fukuda, Katsufumi & Ouchida, Yasunori, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the environment: Does CSR increase emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Elias Asproudis & Eleftherios Filippiadis, 2021. "Environmental Technological Choice in a Cournot-Bertrand Model," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 43-58, March.
    13. Domenico Buccella & Augustine Abakpa, 2023. "Induced vs. Voluntary Green Production: Which Is Better for Society?," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2023(1), pages 89-103.

    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. Asproudis, Elias, 2011. "Trade union structure with environmental concern and firms' technological choice," MPRA Paper 28767, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Constantine Manasakis & Emmanuel Petrakis, 2009. "Union structure and firms' incentives for cooperative R&D investments," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(2), pages 665-693, May.
    3. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios & Tian, Mo, 2022. "Timing of environmental technological choice and trade unions' climate solidarity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    4. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios & Tian, Mo, 2021. "Climate solidarity, green trade unions and timing of technological choice," MPRA Paper 106329, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Debasmita Basak & Andreas Hoefele & Arijit Mukherjee, 2014. "Union Bargaining Power and Product Innovation: Relevance of the Preference Function," CESifo Working Paper Series 5007, CESifo.
    6. Basak, Debasmita & Mukherjee, Arijit, 2018. "Labour unionisation structure and product innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 98-110.
    7. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume, 2012. "Employment Protection Versus Flexicurity: On Technology Adoption in Unionised Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 177-199, March.
    8. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey, 2004. "Unionisation structures and innovation incentives," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages 149-165, March.
    9. Bárcena Ruiz, Juan Carlos & Campo Corredera, María Luz, 2003. "Timing of Wage Setting when Firms Invest in R&D," IKERLANAK 1134-8984, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico I.
    10. Mukherjee, Arijit & Pennings, Enrico, 2011. "Unionization structure, licensing and innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 232-241, March.
    11. Hamid Beladi & Hamid Arijit Mukherjee, 2015. "Union bargaining power and innovation in the presence of subcontracting," Working Papers 0195eco, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    12. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Straume, Odd Rune, 2007. "Technology resistance and globalisation with trade unions: the choice between employment protection and flexicurity," Working Papers in Economics 13/07, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    13. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios, 2021. "Bargaining for Community Fishing Quotas," MPRA Paper 107409, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Beladi, Hamid & Mukherjee, Arijit, 2017. "Union bargaining power, subcontracting and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 90-104.
    15. Debasmita Basak & Andreas Hoefele & Arijit Mukherjee, 2022. "Wage bargaining and product innovation: The role of market expansion effect," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 90(3), pages 319-340, June.
    16. Hristos Doucouliagos & Patrice Laroche, 2013. "Unions and Innovation: New Insights From the Cross-Country Evidence," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 467-491, April.
    17. Ben Ferrett & Vasileios Zikos, 2013. "Wage-Setting Institutions and R&D Collaboration Networks," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 61-78, June.
    18. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey, 2002. "Unionization Structures and Firms' Incentives for Productivity Enhancing Investments," CIG Working Papers FS IV 02-10, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    19. Calabuig, Vicente & Gonzalez-Maestre, Miguel, 2002. "Union structure and incentives for innovation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 177-192, March.
    20. Alex Bryson & Harald Dale-Olsen, 2020. "Unions, Tripartite Competition and Innovation," DoQSS Working Papers 20-02, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade union structure; Environmental concerns; Emissions; Technology; Wages; Employment; J51; L13; Q5; O31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:kap:enreec:v:60:y:2015:i:2:p:165-189. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.