IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/dp0151.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Transformation of British Industrial Relations? Institutions, Conduct and Outcomes 1980-1990

Author

Listed:
  • David Metcalf

Abstract

The institutions and conduct of British industrial relations changed fundamentally in the last decade or so. Union membership haemorrhaged. Management prerogatives were restored. Management often extricated itself from previous pluralist arrangements involving joint regulation with unions. Under half of employees are now covered by collective agreements. The industrial relations environment has become harsher. Product market competition has intensified. Legislative changes have undermined collectivism. But what of the performance outcomes? Here the story is very different. The industrial relations system can no longer be held to stymie companies' achievements. But this is not a 'transformation'. It simply reflects compliance of labour in the conduct of workplace relations. The impact of changes in industrial relations institutions and conduct on the pay/jobs trade-off are even more actutely depressing. The pay-setting institutions have certainly been transformed. The government has achieved virtually all it set out to do yet unemployment rises inexorably to a post-war record high.

Suggested Citation

  • David Metcalf, 1993. "Transformation of British Industrial Relations? Institutions, Conduct and Outcomes 1980-1990," CEP Discussion Papers dp0151, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/DP0151.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sid Kessler & Fred Bayliss, 1992. "Contemporary British Industrial Relations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-22027-4.
    2. Machin, Stephen J & Wadhwani, Sushil, 1991. "The Effects of Unions on Organisational Change and Employment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(407), pages 835-854, July.
    3. Metcalf, David & Stewart, Mark, 1992. "Closed Shops and Relative Pay: Institutional Arrangements or High Density?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 54(4), pages 503-516, November.
    4. Stewart, Mark B, 1991. "Union Wage Differentials in the Face of Changes in the Economic and Legal Environment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 58(230), pages 155-172, May.
    5. 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.
    6. Cable, J. R. & Machin, S. J., 1991. "The relationship between union wage and profitability effects," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 315-321, November.
    7. Metcalf, D., 1990. "Industrial Relations And The "Productivity Miracle" In British Manufacturing Industry In The 1980s," CEPR Discussion Papers 231, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    8. Stewart, Mark B, 1990. "Union Wage Differentials, Product Market Influences and the Division of Rents," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(403), pages 1122-1137, December.
    9. Blanchflower, D. & Oswald, A. & Garrett, M., 1988. "Insider Power In Wage Determination," Papers 319, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
    10. Blanchflower, David G, 1991. "Fear, Unemployment and Pay Flexibility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(406), pages 483-496, May.
    11. Denny, Kevin & Nickell, Stephen J, 1992. "Unions and Investment in British Industry," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(413), pages 874-887, July.
    12. Stephen Machin & M Stewart & John Van Reenen, 1992. "The Economic Effects of Multiple Unionism: Evidence from the 1984 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey," CEP Discussion Papers dp0066, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Carruth, Alan A & Oswald, Andrew J, 1987. "On Union Preferences and Labour Market Models: Insiders and Outsi ders," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(386), pages 431-445, June.
    14. Latreille, Paul L, 1992. "Unions and the Inter-establishment Adoption of New Microelectronic Technologies in the British Private Manufacturing Sector," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 54(1), pages 31-51, February.
    15. Machin, S.J., 1988. "The Productivity Effects Of Unionisation And Firm Size In British Engineering Firms," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 293, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    16. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J & Garrett, Mario D, 1990. "Insider Power in Wage Determination," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 57(226), pages 143-170, May.
    17. Schmitt, John, 1993. "The changing structure of male earnings in Britain, 1974-88," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20993, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Paul Gregg & Stephen Machin & David Metcalf, 1991. "Signals and Cycles Productivity Growth and Changes in Union Status in British Companies," CEP Discussion Papers dp0049, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. David Metcalf, 1993. "Industrial Relations and Economic Performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp0129, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Paul Gregg & Anthony Yates, 1991. "Changes in Wage-setting Arrangements and Trade Union Presence in the 1980s," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 361-376, September.
    21. Blanchflower, David G & Millward, Neil & Oswald, Andrew J, 1991. "Unionism and Employment Behaviour," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(407), pages 815-834, July.
    22. Paul Gregg & Stephen Machin, 1991. "Changes in Union Status, Increased Competition and Wage Growth in the 1980s," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 603-611, December.
    23. Kevin Denny & Stephen Nickell, 1991. "Unions and Investment in British Manufacturing Industry," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 113-121, March.
    24. Ingram, Peter N, 1991. "Ten Years of Manufacturing Wage Settlements: 1979-89," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 93-106, Spring.
    25. Conyon, M & Machin, Stephen, 1991. "The Determination of Profit Margins in UK Manufacturing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 569-582, June.
    26. John Schmitt, 1993. "The Changing Structure of Male Earnings in Britain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0122, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    27. S Dunn & M Wright, 1993. "Managing without the Closed Shop," CEP Discussion Papers dp0118, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    28. Keith Sisson, 1993. "In Search of HRM," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 201-210, June.
    29. Gregg, Paul & Machin, Stephen, 1992. "Unions, the Demise of the Closed Shop and Wage Growth in the 1980's," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 54(1), pages 53-71, February.
    30. David Metcalf, 1993. "Industrial Relations and Economic Performance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 255-283, June.
    31. Purcell, John, 1991. "The Rediscovery of the Management Prerogative: The Management of Labour Relations in the 1980s," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 33-43, Spring.
    32. Brown, William & Walsh, Janet, 1991. "Pay Determination in Britain in the 1980s; the Anatomy of Decentralization," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 44-59, Spring.
    33. Gregg, Paul & Machin, Stephen & Metcalf, David, 1993. "Signals and Cycles? Productivity Growth and Changes in Union Status in British Companies, 1984-9," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 894-907, July.
    34. Machin, Stephen J & Stewart, Mark B, 1990. "Unions and the Financial Performance of British Private Sector Establishments," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 5(4), pages 327-350, Oct.-Dec..
    35. Machin, Stephen & Stewart, Mark B & Van Reenen, John, 1993. " The Economic Effects of Multiple Unionism: Evidence from the 1984 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(3), pages 279-296.
    36. Richard Freeman & Jeffrey Pelletier, 1990. "The Impact of Industrial Relations Legislation on British Union Density," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 141-164, July.
    37. Dowrick, Steve, 1990. "Wage Pressure, Bargaining and Price-Cost Margins in UK Manufacturing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 239-267, March.
    38. Machin, Stephen & Wadhwani, Sushil, 1991. "The Effects of Unions of Investment and Innovation: Evidence from WIRS," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(405), pages 324-330, March.
    39. William Brown, 1993. "The Contraction of Collective Bargaining in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 189-200, June.
    40. Machin, S.J., 1991. "Unions and the capture of economic rents: An investigation using british firm level data," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 261-274, June.
    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. Nir Klein, 2004. "Collective Bargaining and Its Effect on the Central Bank Conservatism: Theory and Some Evidence," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2004.07, Bank of Israel.

    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. Metcalf, David, 1993. "Transformation of British industrial relations? Institutions, conduct and outcomes 1980-1990," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20981, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. David Metcalf, 1993. "Industrial Relations and Economic Performance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 255-283, June.
    3. Millward, N., 1993. "Uses of the workplace industrial relations surveys by British labour economists," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20964, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. N Millward, 1993. "Uses of the Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys by British Labour Economists," CEP Discussion Papers dp0145, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Stephen Machin, 1995. "Plant Closures and Unionization in British Establishments," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 55-68, March.
    6. Richard Disney & Amanda Gosling & Stephen Machin, 1994. "British Unions in Decline: An Examination of the 1980s Fall in Trade Union Recognition," NBER Working Papers 4733, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Robin Naylor, 1995. "Unions in Decline?," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 22, pages 127-142.
    8. John Benson, 1994. "The Economic Effects of Unionism on Japanese Manufacturing Enterprises," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Zafiris TZANNATOS & Toke S. AIDT, 2006. "Unions and microeconomic performance: A look at what matters for economists (and employers)," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 145(4), pages 257-278, December.
    10. John H. Pencavel, 2004. "The Surprising Retreat of Union Britain," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 181-232, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. S. Dobbelaere, 2003. "Joint Estimation of Price-Cost Margins and Union Bargaining Power for Belgian Manufacturing," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 03/171, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    12. Paul Geroski & Paul Gregg & Thibaut Desjonqueres, 1995. "Did the Retreat of UK Trade Unionism Accelerate during the 1990–1993 Recession?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 35-54, March.
    13. Sue Fernie & David Metcalf, 1995. "Participation, Contingent Pay, Representation and Workplace Performance: Evidence from Great Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 379-415, September.
    14. John T. Addison & John S. Heywood & Xiangdong Wei, 2003. "New Evidence on Unions and Plant Closings: Britain in the 1990s," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(4), pages 822-841, April.
    15. Paul Gregg & Stephen Machin, 1991. "Changes in Union Status, Increased Competition and Wage Growth in the 1980s," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 603-611, December.
    16. Toke Aidt & Zafiris Tzannatos, 2002. "Unions and Collective Bargaining : Economic Effects in a Global Environment," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15241, December.
    17. David Metcalf, 2002. "Unions and Productivity, Financial Performance and Investment: International Evidence," CEP Discussion Papers dp0539, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Nir Klein, 2004. "Collective Bargaining and Its Effect on the Central Bank Conservatism: Theory and Some Evidence," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2004.07, Bank of Israel.
    19. Bester, Helmut & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2004. "Wages and productivity growth in a dynamic monopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 83-100, January.
    20. Martyn Andrews & Robin Naylor, 1994. "Declining Union Density in the 1980s: What Do Panel Data Tell Us?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 413-432, September.

    More about this item

    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:cep:cepdps:dp0151. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion-papers/ .

    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.