IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jlabre/v36y2015i3p301-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Declining Unions and the Coverage Wage Gap: Can German Unions Still Cut It?

Author

Listed:
  • John Addison
  • Paulino Teixeira
  • Jens Stephani
  • Lutz Bellmann

Abstract

That German trade unionism is in profound decline seems to be beyond dispute. More controversial is the implied change in union impact on worker wages. A linked employer-employee dataset is deployed over an interval of continuing decline in unionism to address this issue. Over the sample period 2000–2010 it is found that joining a sectoral agreement always produces higher wages, while exiting one no longer leads to wage losses if the transition is to a firm agreement. Leaving a firm agreement to non-coverage also leads to wage reductions, while joining one from non-coverage appears decreasingly favorable. The one constant is the persistence of a small positive union wage gap. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Jens Stephani & Lutz Bellmann, 2015. "Declining Unions and the Coverage Wage Gap: Can German Unions Still Cut It?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 301-317, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:36:y:2015:i:3:p:301-317
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heining, Jörg & Scholz, Theresa & Seth, Stefan, 2013. "Linked-Employer-Employee data from the IAB: LIAB cross-sectional model 2 1993-2010 (LIAB QM2 9310)," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201302_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    2. Gartner, Hermann, 2005. "The imputation of wages above the contribution limit with the German IAB employment sample," FDZ Methodenreport 200502_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke, 2011. "Slip Sliding Away: Further Union Decline In Germany And Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(4), pages 490-518, September.
    4. Hirsch, Boris & Schnabel, Claus, 2011. "Let's Take Bargaining Models Seriously: The Decline in Union Power in Germany, 1992-2009," IZA Discussion Papers 5875, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Anke Hassel, 1999. "The Erosion of the German System of Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 483-505, September.
    6. Gesine Stephan & Knut Gerlach, 2005. "Wage settlements and wage setting: results from a multi-level model," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(20), pages 2297-2306.
    7. repec:iab:iabfme:200502(en is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:iab:iabfda:201302(en is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Uta Sch?nberg & Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2014. "From Sick Man of Europe to Economic Superstar: Germany's Resurgent Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 167-188, Winter.
    10. Gartner, Hermann, 2005. "The imputation of wages above the contribution limit with the German IAB employment sample," FDZ-Methodenreport 200502 (en), Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Bispinck, Reinhard & Dribbusch, Heiner & Schulten, Thorsten, 2010. "German collective bargaining in a European perspective: Continuous erosion or re-stabilisation of multi-employer agreements?," WSI Working Papers 171, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    12. Streeck, Wolfgang, 2010. "Re-Forming Capitalism: Institutional Change in the German Political Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199573981.
    13. Anke Hassel, 2014. "The Paradox of Liberalization — Understanding Dualism and the Recovery of the German Political Economy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 57-81, March.
    14. Haipeter, Thomas. & Lehndorff, Steffen., 2009. "Collective bargaining on employment," ILO Working Papers 994331283402676, International Labour Organization.
    15. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2016. "Is the Erosion Thesis Overblown? Alignment from Without in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 415-443, July.
    16. Gabriele Fischer & Florian Janik & Dana Müller & Alexandra Schmucker, 2009. "European Data Watch: The IAB Establishment Panel - Things Users Should Know," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 129(1), pages 133-148.
    17. repec:ilo:ilowps:433128 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Mario Bossler, 2019. "The Rise in Orientation at Collective Bargaining Without a Formal Contract," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 17-45, January.
    2. Töpfer, Marina, 2018. "The age pay gap and labor market heterogeneity: A new empirical approach using data for Italy," Discussion Papers 105, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    3. Brändle, Tobias, 2024. "Unions and Collective Bargaining: The Influence on Wages, Employment and Firm Survival," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1457, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    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. John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Jens Stephani & Lutz Bellmann, 2012. "Can German Unions Still Cut It?," GEMF Working Papers 2012-19, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    2. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2016. "Is the Erosion Thesis Overblown? Alignment from Without in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 415-443, July.
    3. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Stephani, Jens & Bellmann, Lutz, 2014. "Union Decline and the Coverage Wage Gap in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 8257, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2014. "Indicative and Updated Estimates of the Collective Bargaining Premium in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 125-156, January.
    5. Tobias Brändle & Laszlo Goerke, 2018. "The one constant: a causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked‐employer‐employee data," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 445-478, November.
    6. John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2012. "Is the Erosion Thesis Overblown? Evidence from the Orientation of Uncovered Employers," GEMF Working Papers 2012-07, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    7. Baumgarten, Daniel & Lehwald, Sybille, 2019. "Trade Exposure and the Decline in Collective Bargaining: Evidence From Germany," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 165, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    8. Bastian Stockinger & Katja Wolf, 2019. "The Productivity Effects of Worker Mobility Between Heterogeneous Firms," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 20(4), pages 492-522, November.
    9. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Alex Bryson & André Pahnke, 2013. "Collective Agreement Status and Survivability: Change and Persistence in the German Model," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(3), pages 288-309, September.
    10. Nicole Gürtzgen, 2016. "Estimating the Wage Premium of Collective Wage Contracts: Evidence from Longitudinal Linked Employer–Employee Data," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 294-322, April.
    11. Addison, John T. & Kölling, Arnd & Teixeira, Paulino, 2014. "Changes in Bargaining Status and Intra-Plant Wage Dispersion in Germany: A Case of (Almost) Plus Ça Change?," IZA Discussion Papers 8359, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Boris Hirsch & Michael Oberfichtner & Claus Schnabel, 2014. "The levelling effect of product market competition on gender wage discrimination," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2015. "Pacts for Employment and Competitiveness as a Role Model? Their Effects on Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 9323, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. John T. Addison & Alex Bryson & Paulino Teixeira & André Pahnke & Lutz Bellmann, 2013. "The Extent of Collective Bargaining and Workplace Representation: Transitions between States and their Determinants. A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Great Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 182-209, May.
    15. Simon Jäger & Shakked Noy & Benjamin Schoefer, 2022. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 53-80, Fall.
    16. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    17. Ochsenfeld, Fabian, 2018. "The Relational Nature of Employment Dualization: Evidence from Subcontracting Establishments," SocArXiv ta4r6, Center for Open Science.
    18. Nicole Guertzgen, 2009. "Rent‐sharing and Collective Bargaining Coverage: Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(2), pages 323-349, June.
    19. Moczall, Andreas, 2015. "The effect of hiring subsidies on regular wages," IAB-Discussion Paper 201501, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    20. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2015. "Pacts for Employment and Competitiveness as a Role Model? Their Effects on Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 9323, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm-level agreements; Sectoral collective bargaining; Bargaining transitions; Wages; Germany; J31; J51; J53;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence

    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:spr:jlabre:v:36:y:2015:i:3:p:301-317. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.