IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/19999.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Looking for HRM/union substitution: evidence from British workplaces

Author

Listed:
  • Machin, Stephen
  • Wood, Stephen

Abstract

In this paper we test the HRM/union substitution hypothesis that human resource management (HRM) practices act as a substitute for unionization. We use British workplace data between 1980 and 1998 which allows us to examine for the first time whether increased HRM incidence has coincided with union decline. First, we compare changes over time in the incidence of HRM practices across union and non-union sectors, finding little cross-time difference occurring between sectors. Second, we ask whether newer workplaces (strongly shown by other research as more likely to be non-union) have experienced differentially faster HRM incidence; we are unable to find much evidence in support of this. Third, longitudinal changes also fail to pick up any evidence of faster union decline in workplaces or industries with faster take up of HRM practices. We find no evidence of HRM substitution operating in the hypothesised way of it replacing unions and conclude that increased HRM incidence does not seem to be an important factor underpinning union decline in Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Machin, Stephen & Wood, Stephen, 2004. "Looking for HRM/union substitution: evidence from British workplaces," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:19999
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19999/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Wood & Maria Teresa Albanese, 1995. "Can We Speak Of A High Commitment Management On The Shop Floor?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 215-247, March.
    2. Jeremy Waddington, 1992. "Trade Union Membership in Britain, 1980–1987: Unemployment and Restructuring," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 287-324, June.
    3. Keith Sisson, 1993. "In Search of HRM," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 201-210, June.
    4. John H. Pencavel, 2004. "The Surprising Retreat of Union Britain," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 181-232, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. repec:lan:wpaper:4012 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. A I Petrescu & R Simmons & S Bradley, 2004. "The impacts of human resource management practices and pay inequality on workers' job satisfaction," Working Papers 542602, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    3. repec:lan:wpaper:3727 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:lan:wpaper:3621 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:lan:wpaper:3619 is not listed on IDEAS

    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 Godard & John T. Delaney, 2000. "Reflections on the “High Performance†Paradigm's Implications for Industrial Relations as a Field," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 482-502, April.
    2. David Card & Richard B. Freeman, 2004. "What Have Two Decades of British Economic Reform Delivered?," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 9-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. David Metcalf, 1993. "Transformation of British Industrial Relations? Institutions, Conduct and Outcomes 1980-1990," CEP Discussion Papers dp0151, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. A Charlwood, 2005. "The De-Collectivisation of Pay Setting in Britain 1990-1998: Incidence, Determinants and Impact," CEP Discussion Papers dp0705, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. A Charlwood, 2003. "The Anatomy of Union Decline in Britain: 1990-1998," CEP Discussion Papers dp0601, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Stephen Machin, 2000. "Union Decline in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 631-645, December.
    7. David Marsden, 2013. "Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison under Different Forms of Workplace Representation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 221-258, January.
    8. Cyprien Batut & Ulysse Lojkine & Paolo Santini, 2021. "Which side are you on? A historical perspective on union membership composition in four European countries," Working Papers halshs-03364022, HAL.
    9. John Van Reenen, 2001. "The new economy: reality and policy," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 307-336, September.
    10. Jeremy Waddington & Allan Kerr, 2015. "Joining UNISON: does the reform of a union organising strategy change how members perceive their recruitment?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 187-207, May.
    11. Hodgkinson, Ann, 2002. "The Impact of Different HRM Regimes on Labour Productivity: National Results and a Regional Perspective," Economics Working Papers wp02-17, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
    12. Francis Green & Stephen Machin & David Wilkinson, 1999. "Trade Unions and Training Practices in British Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(2), pages 179-195, January.
    13. Helge Sanner, 2006. "Imperfect goods and labor markets, and the union wage gap," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 19(1), pages 119-136, February.
    14. Susan Hayter, 2011. "Introduction," Chapters, in: Susan Hayter (ed.), The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. David Metcalf, 2002. "Unions and Productivity, Financial Performance and Investment: International Evidence," CEP Discussion Papers dp0539, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    16. Rachel Bailey, 1994. "Annual Review Article 1993: British Public Sector Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 113-136, March.
    17. Stephen Machin, 2024. "Real wages, inequality and living standards," CEP Election Analysis Papers 066, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Erling Barth & Alex Bryson & Harald Dale-Olsen, 2020. "Do Public Subsidies of Union Membership Increase Union Membership Rates?," DoQSS Working Papers 20-14, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    19. John Godard, 2003. "Labour Unions, Workplace Rights and Canadian Public Policy," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(4), pages 449-467, December.
    20. Richard Disney & Amanda Gosling & Stephen Machin, 1994. "British Unions in Decline: An Examination of the 1980s Fall in Trade Union Recognition," NBER Working Papers 4733, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human Resource Management; Trade unions;

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

    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:ehl:lserod:19999. 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: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    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.