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Self-Enforcing Union Contracts: Efficient Investment and Employment

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  • Addison, John T
  • Chilton, John B

Abstract

Carliss Baldwin (1983) asks whether a firm can credibly deter union opportunism that would lead to underinvestment. The authors show that the punishments Baldwin considers credible exclude tougher threats that only have the appearance of being self-destructive. If the firm's discount factor is sufficiently close to one, union opportunism can indeed be deterred. Moreover, the authors show that given the firm's discount factor, a shorter lifetime of capital does not necessarily promote efficiency. Although, as Baldwin emphasizes, it does enhance the firm's ability to punish union opportunism, it also creates adverse incentives for the firm to engage in opportunistic employment cuts. Copyright 1998 by University of Chicago Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Addison, John T & Chilton, John B, 1998. "Self-Enforcing Union Contracts: Efficient Investment and Employment," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(3), pages 349-369, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jnlbus:v:71:y:1998:i:3:p:349-69
    DOI: 10.1086/209748
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:lic:licosd:22809 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Barry T. Hirsch, 2008. "Sluggish Institutions in a Dynamic World: Can Unions and Industrial Competition Coexist?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 153-176, Winter.
    3. Tony Fang & John S. Heywood, 2006. "Unionization and plant closure in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(4), pages 1173-1194, November.
    4. Tapan Biswas & Jolian McHardy, 2012. "On the incentives to increase input efficiency under monopoly trade unions," Review of Economic Analysis, Digital Initiatives at the University of Waterloo Library, vol. 4(1), pages 39-51, June.
    5. Gavin Cameron & Chris Wallace, 2002. "Macroeconomic Performance in the Bretton Woods Era and After," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(4), pages 479-494.
    6. John T. Addison & Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Do Works Councils Inhibit Investment?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(2), pages 187-203, January.
    7. Persyn, Damiaan, 2013. "Union wage demands with footloose firms and agglomeration forces," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 142-150.
    8. John T. Addison & Clive R. Belfield, 2004. "Union Voice," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(4), pages 563-596, October.
    9. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2017. "Collective Bargaining and Innovation in Germany: A Case of Cooperative Industrial Relations?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 73-121, January.
    10. Addison, John T. & Heywood, John S. & Wei, Xiangdong, 2001. "Unions and Plant Closings in Britain: New Evidence from the 1990/98 WERS," IZA Discussion Papers 352, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2013. "Collective Bargaining and Innovation in Germany: Cooperative Industrial Relations?," IZA Discussion Papers 7871, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Kölling, Arnd, 2002. "Unions, Works Councils and Plant Closings in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Van Reenen, John & Menezes-Filho, Naercio, 2003. "Unions and Innovation: A Survey of the Theory and Empirical Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 3792, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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