The Role of Unions in the Twenty-First Century A Report for the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti

by Boeri, Tito; Brugiavini, Agar; Calmfors, Lars

• ISBN13: 9780199246588
• ISBN10: 0199246580
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book, which includes contributions from first-rate international scholars in the field, discusses the role that unions are likely to play in the changed economic environment of the new century. Questions discussed include: What will unions look like in the years to come? Which kind of interest groups will they represent? How important will be the broader political role of unions? To what extent do unions care about future generations?

Author Biography

After obtaining his Ph.D. in economics from New York University, Tito Boeri was senior economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 1987 to 1996. In this position, among other things, he co-ordinated all the work carried out by the OECD in the field of human resource policies in the central and eastern European economies in transition after 1990. He was also consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the ILO and the World Bank. He is currently associate professor of economics at Bocconi University, Milan, where he teaches courses on labour economics and the economics of transition, and is affiliated with the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research (IGIER). He is Director of the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti, which operates in the field of labour market and social policy reforms in Europe. Lars Calmfors is Professor of Economics at Stockholm University. Agar Brugiavini is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Venice.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	xvi
Part I. The Future of Collective Bargaining in Europe	1	(156)
Lars Calmfors
Alison Booth
Michael Burda
Daniele Checchi
Robin Naylor
Jelle Visser
Introduction	3	(8)
Union Membership	11	(36)
Membership trends in the twentieth century: increased cross-national variation	12	(2)
Union membership decline	14	(3)
Why join a trade union?	17	(2)
Cyclical explanations of union membership developments	19	(5)
Structural explanations	24	(8)
Institutional explanations	32	(2)
Centralization and unionization	34	(2)
Some additional empirical evidence on union membership	36	(6)
New organizing strategies	42	(3)
Conclusions	45	(2)
Wage Bargaining, Union Power, and Economic Integration	47	(14)
Review of literature on union wage effects: theory and evidence	47	(9)
The impact of trade, integration, and FDI in Europe on union bargaining power	56	(3)
Conclusions	59	(2)
Wider Dimensions of Unions' Presence	61	(25)
What else do European unions do?	61	(9)
Flow do they do it?	70	(13)
The future of union presence	83	(2)
Conclusions	85	(1)
Bargaining Structure and Macroeconomic Performance	86	(29)
The conventional wisdom	86	(12)
The interaction between bargaining structure and economic policy	98	(6)
Bargaining structure and macroeconomic shocks	104	(5)
Bargaining structure and the EMU	109	(3)
Conclusions	112	(3)
The Future Prospects for Trade Unions in Europe	115	(42)
Prospects for union membership	115	(3)
Four scenarios for collective bargaining in the future	118	(14)
Possible union strategies	132	(25)
Comments	135	(1)
Villy Bergstrom	135	(3)
Robert Flanagan	138	(5)
References	143	(14)
Part II. What do Unions do to the Welfare States?	157	(97)
Agar Brugiavini
Bernhard Ebbinghaus
Richard Freeman
Pietro Garibaldi
Bertil Holmund
Martin Schludi
Thierry Verdier
Introduction	159	(4)
Unions' Involvement in the Welfare State	163	(24)
Unions and the welfare state development	164	(8)
Unions and membership structure	172	(3)
Unions as a political movement	175	(2)
Unions and social insurance administration	177	(4)
Unions and occupational welfare	181	(2)
Institutional and political veto points	183	(4)
Unions and Pensions: Theory, Evidence, and Implications	187	(24)
What unions do to pensions: economic theory	187	(8)
The importance of institutional setting	195	(2)
What unions do in practice: empirical evidence on unions and pensions	197	(14)
Learning from Welfare Reforms: The Case of Public Pensions	211	(23)
Long-term and short-term reform pressures on pay-as-you-go systems	215	(2)
Tax financing or payroll contributions?	217	(3)
Reversing early retirement	220	(3)
How to calculate benefits fairly	223	(2)
Privatization by mandated or voluntary occupational pensions?	225	(3)
Towards more funded private pension systems	228	(2)
Unilateral or negotiated re forms?	230	(4)
Unions and Unemployment Insurance	234	(14)
Unemployment insurance and the demand for union membership	234	(4)
Unemployment insurance, wage bargaining, and unemployment	238	(3)
How do unions influence unemployment insurance policies?	241	(3)
Unemployment insurance reforms	244	(3)
How could a Ghent system help other European countries?	247	(1)
Conclusions	248	(6)
Do unions interact with the welfare state? How do they do it?	248	(2)
What explains union policies towards welfare outcomes?	250	(1)
Which institutional structure best increases union welfare-enhancing activities relative to rent-seeking activities?	251	(1)
Can unions contribute to a re form of welfare systems?	252	(2)
Appendix. Unions and Benefits: A Simple Analytical Framework	254	(45)
A1. A model of trade unions and long-term benefits	254	(10)
A2. Bargaining	264	(1)
A3. Political economy considerations within the union	265	(8)
A4. Endogenous membership	273	(2)
A5. Proofs	275	(17)
Comments	278	(1)
Gilles Saint-Paul	278	(3)
Michele Salvati	281	(5)
References	286	(6)
Final Remarks	292	(7)
Olivier Blanchard	292	(4)
Stephen Nickell	296	(3)
Index	299