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Trade Unions go global!

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Listed:
  • Alejandro Donado
  • Klaus Wälde

Abstract

Worker movements played a crucial role in making workplaces safer. Workplace safety is costly for firms but increases labour supply. A laissez-faire approach leav- ing safety of workplaces unknown is suboptimal. Safety standards set by better- informed trade unions are output and welfare increasing. Trade between a country with trade unions (the North) and a union-free country (the South) can imply a reduction in work standards in the North. When trade unions are established in the South, the North, including northern unions, tend to lose. Quantitatively, these effects are small and overcompensated by gains in the South.

Suggested Citation

  • Alejandro Donado & Klaus Wälde, 2008. "Trade Unions go global!," Working Papers 2008_22, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow, revised Aug 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:gla:glaewp:2008_22
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Donado, Alejandro & Wälde, Klaus, 2010. "How bad is globalization for labour standards in the north?," W.E.P. - Würzburg Economic Papers 84, University of Würzburg, Department of Economics.
    2. Alejandro Donado & Klaus Wa¨lde, 2012. "How trade unions increase welfare," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(563), pages 990-1009, September.
    3. Trappmann, Mark & Christoph, Bernhard & Achatz, Juliane & Wenzig, Claudia & Müller, Gerrit & Gebhardt, Daniel, 2009. "Design and stratification of PASS : a new panel study for research on long term unemployment," IAB-Discussion Paper 200905, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational health and safety; trade unions; international trade; welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements

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