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The Development of Trade Union Theory and Mainstream Economic Methodology

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  • Stavros Drakopoulos
  • Ioannis Katselidis

Abstract

The pre-WWII approaches to trade unions were mainly based on the theoretical and methodological viewpoints of early institutional economics. Trade unions were conceived of as politico-economic organizations whose members were motivated by relative comparisons, and also were concerned with issues of equity and justice. In the post-war period, there was a major theoretical and methodological shift toward the idea of unions as optimizing economic units with well-defined objective functions, which are optimized subject to purely economic constraints. This conceptual transformation took place mainly through the Dunlop -Ross debate, in which John Dunlop conceived of unions as analogous to business firms, as opposed to Arthur Ross’s institutional and political approach. However, after decades of analytical developments, the current state of trade union theory has not produced very impressive theoretical results. We trace the historical development of the economic analysis of trade unions from a methodological perspective. We also examine the methodological reasons for the dominance of Dunlop’s approach, and the current state of – and the contemporary criticism toward – the established theory. Furthermore, we discuss the contemporary efforts to build a more comprehensive approach to trade union theory and trade union objectives, also incorporating Ross’s institutional and political insights.

Suggested Citation

  • Stavros Drakopoulos & Ioannis Katselidis, 2014. "The Development of Trade Union Theory and Mainstream Economic Methodology," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 1133-1149, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:48:y:2014:i:4:p:1133-1149
    DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624480413
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    Cited by:

    1. Ilaria Armaroli, 2022. "Integrating direct employee voice within the framework of worker representation: The role of an Italian trade union in organising disintermediation," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 658-684, May.
    2. Luciano Fanti & Domenico Buccella, 2019. "When unionisation is profitable for firms in network industries," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 711-722, November.
    3. Drakopoulos, Stavros A., 2024. "Non-orthodox Economic Approaches to Labor Unions and Union Leadership," MPRA Paper 119787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Drakopoulos, Stavros A. & Katselidis, Ioannis, 2021. "The Old Institutional School and Labour Market Functions and Policies," MPRA Paper 110794, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ioannis A. Katselidis, 2019. "Institutions, Policy and the Labour Market: The Contribution of the Old Institutional Economics," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 8, pages 13-30, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B0 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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