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Why Have Workers Stopped Joining Unions?

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Author Info
Alex Bryson
Rafael Gomez

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Abstract

This paper tracks the rise in the percentage of employees who have never become union members (¿nevermembers¿)since the early 1980s and shows that it is the reduced likelihood of ever becoming a member ratherthan the haemorrhaging of existing members which is behind the decline in overall union membership in Britain.We estimate the determinants of ¿never-membership¿ and consider how much of the rise can be explained bystructural change in the labour market and how much by change in preferences among employees. We find asimilar trend in the unionised sector, indicating that the rise in never-membership for the economy as a whole isnot linked solely to a decline in the number of recognised workplaces.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE in its series CEP Discussion Papers with number dp0589.

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Date of creation: Nov 2003
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Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0589

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Related research
Keywords: Union membership;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Alex Bryson & Rafael Gomez, 2003. "Segmentation, Switching Costs and the Demand for Unionization in Britain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0568, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  2. Green, Francis, 1990. "Trade Union Availability and Trade Union Membership in Britain," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(4), pages 378-94, December.
  3. Richard Freeman & Jeffrey Pelletier, 1991. "The Impact of Industrial Relations Legislation on British Union Density," NBER Working Papers 3167, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. repec:fth:prinin:452 is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Stephen Machin, 2000. "Union Decline in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 631-645, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Carruth, Alan A & Disney, Richard F, 1988. "Where Have Two Million Trade Union Members Gone?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 55(217), pages 1-19, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. David G. Blanchflower, 2006. "A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership," IZA Discussion Papers 2016, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. canegrati, emanuele, 2007. "The single-mindedness of labor unions when transfers are not Lump-Sum," MPRA Paper 2320, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Canegrati, Emanuele, 2007. "The Single-Mindedness of Labor Unions: Theory and Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 1398, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Rupayan Pal, 2008. "Estimating the Probability of Trade Union Membership in India: Impact of Communist Parties, Personal Attributes and Industrial Characteristics," Working Papers id:1669, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Alex Bryson & Richard Freeman, 2006. "What Voice Do British Workers Want?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0731, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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