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A Cartel Analysis of the German Labor Institutions and Its Implications for Labor Market Reforms

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Author Info
Justus Haucap
Uwe Pauly
Christian Wey

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Abstract

In this paper we apply standard cartel theory to identify the major institutional stabilizers of Germany's area tariff system of collective bargaining between a single industry union and the industry's employers association. Our cartel analysis allows us to demonstrate that recent labor policy reforms that intend to make labor markets more "flexible" further serve to stabilize the labor cartel while other pro-competitive proposals have failed. We argue that the pro-competitive recommendations failed exactly because of their destabilizing effects on insiders' incentives to stay in the labor cartel. We propose regulatory measures for injecting competition into Germany's labor markets that focus on the creation of new options for firms and workers outside the existing area tariff system; in particular, by liberalizing existing barriers for the establishment of a fully tariff-enabled union. Such an endeavor must go hand in hand with the institutionalization of a competition policy framework for labor market disputes as any destabilizing policy inevitably provokes counter measures of the incumbent labor cartel so as to protect their dominance vis-à-vis outsider competition.

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Paper provided by DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research in its series Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin with number 651.

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Length: 15 p.
Date of creation: 2006
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Publication status: Published in: Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 163 (2007), 503-516
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp651

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Related research
Keywords: Union Collective Bargaining Cartel Stability Labor Market Reforms

Other versions of this item:

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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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. Haucap, Justus & Wey, Christian, 2003. "Unionization Structures and Innovation Incentives," CEPR Discussion Papers 4079, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Justus Haucap & Christian Wey & Uwe Pauly, 1999. "The Incentives of Employers’ Associations to Raise Rivals’ Costs in the Presence of Collective Bargaining," CIG Working Papers FS IV 99-06, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG). [Downloadable!]
  3. Siebert, Horst, 1997. "Labor Market Rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 37-54, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Eric Posner, 2003. "Four Economic Perspectives on American Labor Law and the Problem of Social Conflict," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 159(1), pages 101-, March.
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