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Trade Union Objectives and Economic Growth

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  • Andreas Irmen
  • Berthold U. Wigger

Abstract

A trade union whose purpose is to raise wages above the competitive level may foster economic growth if it succeeds in shifting income away from the owners of capital to the workers and if the workers' marginal propensity to save exceeds the one of capitalists. We make this point in an overlapping generations framework with unionized labor. Considering a monopoly union which cares for wages and employment, we determine a range of trade union objectives and characterize the aggregate technology so that the union's policy spurs per capita income growth. However, the union's policy cannot lead to a Pareto-improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Irmen & Berthold U. Wigger, 2002. "Trade Union Objectives and Economic Growth," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 59(1), pages 49-67, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:mhr:finarc:urn:sici:0015-2218(2002/200302)59:1_49:tuoaeg_2.0.tx_2-u
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlotta Berti Ceroni & Giorgio Bellettini, 2004. "Unions and the political economy of immigration," 2004 Meeting Papers 494, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Luca Gori & Luciano Fanti, 2009. "Right-to-manage unions endogenous growth and welfare," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 903-917.
    3. Chang, Juin-jen & Shaw, Ming-fu & Lai, Ching-chong, 2007. "A "Managerial" trade union and economic growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 365-384, February.
    4. Christopher Tsoukis & Frederic Tournemaine, 2011. "Social Conflict, Growth And Factor Shares," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 283-304, May.
    5. Chandril Bhattacharyya & Manash Ranjan Gupta, 2015. "Unionized Labour Market, Unemployment Allowances, Productive Public Expenditure And Endogenous Growth," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 397-425, July.
    6. Luciano Fanti & Luca Gori, 2011. "On economic growth and minimum wages," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 59-82, May.
    7. Bhattacharyya, Chandril & Ranjan Gupta, Manash, 2021. "Unionised labour market, environment and endogenous growth," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 29-44.
    8. Kemnitz, Alexander, 2008. "Can immigrant employment alleviate the demographic burden? The role of union centralization," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 123-126, April.
    9. Colin Davis & Ken-ichi Hashimoto & Ken Tabata, 2021. "Unionization, Industry Concentration, and Economic Growth," ISER Discussion Paper 1154, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    10. Jörg Lingens, 2002. "The Impact of a Unionised Labour Market in a Schumpeterian Growth Model," Labor and Demography 0207003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. G. Bellettini & C. Berti Ceroni, 2004. "A positive analysis of immigration policy," Working Papers 520, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    12. Bhattacharyya, Chandril & Gupta, Manash Ranjan, 2014. "Unionised labour market, efficiency wage and endogenous growth," MPRA Paper 58332, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Bhattacharyya, Chandril & Gupta, Manash Ranjan, 2020. "Union, Efficiency of Labour and Endogenous Growth," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 61(2), pages 170-202, December.
    14. Renato BALDUCCI & Stefano STAFFOLANI, 2003. "Short-Run Bargaining, Factors Shares and Growth," Working Papers 188, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    15. Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca, 2010. "Child policy solutions for the unemployment problem," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 147-149, December.
    16. Andreas Irmen, 2009. "Frictional unemployment, labor market institutions, and endogenous economic growth," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 1127-1138.
    17. Giorgio Bellettini & Carlotta Berti Ceroni, 2005. "When the Union Hurts the Workers: A Positive Analysis of Immigration Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 1421, CESifo.
    18. Lingens, Jorg, 2003. "The impact of a unionised labour market in a Schumpeterian growth model," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 91-104, February.
    19. Chung-Hui Lai & Chen-Sheng Yang, 2018. "The Effects of Unionization in an R&D Growth Model with (In)determinate Equilibrium," Journal of Economics and Management, College of Business, Feng Chia University, Taiwan, vol. 14(2), pages 107-132, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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