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Employee perceptions of working conditions and the desire for worker representation in Britain and the US

Author

Listed:
  • Bryson, Alex
  • Freeman, Richard B.

Abstract

This paper explores the link between employee perceptions of working conditions and the desire for worker representation in Britain and the US. We find that the distribution of employee perceptions of poor working conditions is similar in Britain and the US; similar factors affect the number of perceived poor working conditions; and the perception of poor working conditions is strongly associated with the desire for union representation. The nature of workplaces, as opposed to employees’ characteristics, is the predominant factor determining employee perceptions of poor working conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryson, Alex & Freeman, Richard B., 2013. "Employee perceptions of working conditions and the desire for worker representation in Britain and the US," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 48129, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:48129
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    File URL: https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/48129/
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    Cited by:

    1. Stéphanie Moullet & Zinaida Salibekyan, 2019. "The Perception of Job Insecurity in France: Between Individual Determinants and Managerial Practices [Le sentiment d’insécurité de l’emploi en France : entre déterminants individuels et pratiques managériales]," Post-Print halshs-02484180, HAL.
    2. Getinet Astatike Haile, 2021. "Men, women and unions," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 201-217, May.
    3. Nicholas Martindale & Alex J. Wood & Brendan J. Burchell, 2024. "What do platform workers in the UK gig economy want?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(3), pages 542-567, September.
    4. Bengt Furåker & Mattias Bengtsson, 2013. "Collective and individual benefits of trade unions: a multi-level analysis of 21 European countries," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 548-565, November.
    5. Alex Bryson, 2016. "Health and safety risks in Britain's workplaces: where are they and who controls them?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5-6), pages 547-566, November.
    6. Alex Bryson & Richard Freeman & Rafael Gomez & Paul Willman, 2017. "The Twin Track Model of Employee Voice: An Anglo-American Perspective on Union Decline and the Rise of Alternative Forms of Voice," DoQSS Working Papers 17-13, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    7. Olivier Guillot & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Isabelle Terraz, 2024. "Job strain and union membership: An empirical study based on French data," Working Papers of BETA 2024-08, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    8. Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes & David Wilkinson, 2023. "Is pupil attainment higher in well-managed schools?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 129-144, January.
    9. White, Michael & Bryson, Alex, 2018. "HPWS in the Public Sector: Are There Mutual Gains?," IZA Discussion Papers 11965, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Simon Eisele & Martin R. Schneider, 2020. "What Do Unions Do to Work Design? Computer Use, Union Presence, and Tayloristic Jobs in Britain," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 604-626, October.
    11. Barry, Michael & Bryson, Alex & Gomez, Rafael & Kaufman, Bruce E. & Lomas, Guenther & Wilkinson, Adrian, 2018. "The," IZA Discussion Papers 11860, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Monica Fisher & Jeffrey J. Reimer & Paul A. Lewin, 2024. "Is union membership associated with higher wages of U.S. farmworkers? An empirical analysis using the National Agricultural Workers Survey," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(3), pages 1175-1189, September.
    13. Barth, Erling & Bryson, Alex & Dale-Olsen, Harald, 2025. "Turning non-members into members: Do public subsidies to union membership matter?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    14. Rea Prouska & Argyro Avgoustaki & Alexandros Psychogios & Adrian Wilkinson, 2022. "Employee participation and representation in Central and Eastern Europe," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 123-145, February.
    15. Şafak Tartanoğlu, 2015. "Beyond informality: effectiveness of a new actor for representing call centre workers in Turkey," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 381-397, November.
    16. Michael Barry & Alex Bryson & Rafael Gomez & Bruce Kaufman & Guenther Lomas & Adrian Wilkinson, 2018. "The ''Good Workplace'': The Role of Joint Consultative Committees, Unions and HR policies in Employee Ratings of Workplaces in Britain," DoQSS Working Papers 18-08, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    17. Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2019. "Accounting for geographical variance in the union satisfaction gap," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 104-125, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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