This paper offers a cartel explanation for the stability of German collective bargaining institutions. We show that a dense net of legal safeguards has been woven around the wage-setting cartel. These measures make deviation by cartel insiders less attractive and simultaneously erect entry barriers for alternative unions. As we argue, many recent labor policy measures, which make wages more flexible, serve to further stabilize the labor cartel, while truly procompetitive proposals have not been implemented, exactly because of their destabilizing effects. We propose policy measures that remove entry barriers and facilitate outside competition by alternative collective bargaining organizations.
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Volume (Year): 163 (2007) Issue (Month): 3 (September) Pages: 503-516 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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Find related papers by JEL classification: J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
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Thomas K. Bauer & Jochen Kluve & Sandra Schaffner & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2008.
"Fiscal Effects of Minimum Wages – An Analysis for Germany,"
Ruhr Economic Papers
0079, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
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