IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/757.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Trade union research and cross-national comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Hyman, Richard

Abstract

This article is concerned with problems of comparative research and analysis in industrial relations, and in particular with cross-national comparison of trade unions. Comparison is of both practical and theoretical importance, but is fraught with difficulties, in part because of the paradox involved in attempting to generalise concerning national instances which are in so many respects unique. The author considers three different approaches to analysis, in terms respectively of institutions, functions and issues. In conclusion the article emphasises the iterative nature of research and analysis and insists that even if the goal of satisfactory cross-national comparison may be unattainable, its pursuit is both necessary and valuable.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyman, Richard, 2001. "Trade union research and cross-national comparison," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 757, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:757
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/757/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Rose & W. J. M. Mackenzie, 1991. "Comparing Forms of Comparative Analysis," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 39(3), pages 446-462, September.
    2. Wallerstein, Michael, 1989. "Union Organization in Advanced Industrial Democracies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 481-501, June.
    3. Waterman, P., 1991. "Social-movement unionism," ISS Working Papers - General Series 18874, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    4. Hibbs, Douglas A., 1978. "On the Political Economy of Long-Run Trends in Strike Activity," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 153-175, April.
    5. Wolfgang Streeck, 1987. "The Uncertainties of Management in the Management of Uncertainty," International Journal of Political Economy, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 17(3), pages 57-87, October.
    6. Golden,Miriam A., 1997. "Heroic Defeats," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521484329, January.
    7. Richard Hyman, 1994. "Theory and Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 165-180, June.
    8. Richard M. Locke & Kathleen Thelen, 1995. "Apples and Oranges Revisited: Contextualized Comparisons and the Study of Comparative Labor Politics," Politics & Society, , vol. 23(3), pages 337-367, September.
    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. Andrea Signoretti, 2021. "Workplace processes and employment opportunities for vulnerable social groups," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(1), pages 77-92, March.
    2. McGuire, Donna & Scherrer, Christoph, 2010. "Developing a Labour Voice in Trade Policy at the National Level," GLU Working Papers 8, Global Labour University (GLU).
    3. Christian Dufour & Adelheid Hege, 2013. "Special Issue. Edited by: Gregor Murray, Christian Lévesque, Christian Dufour and Adelheid Hege," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 355-372, July.
    4. Sophie Pochic & Cécile Guillaume, 2021. "Understanding women’s under representation in union leadership roles: the contribution of a ‘career’ methodology," Post-Print hal-03446856, HAL.
    5. Sukti DASGUPTA, 2002. "Attitudes towards trade unions in Bangladesh, Brazil, Hungary and Tanzania," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 141(4), pages 413-440, December.
    6. Carola Frege & John Kelly & Patrick McGovern, 2011. "Richard Hyman: Marxism, Trade Unionism and Comparative Employment Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(2), pages 209-230, June.
    7. Emma Hughes & Tony Dobbins, 2021. "Frontier of control struggles in British and Irish public transport," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(3), pages 327-344, September.
    8. Giannakopoulos, Nicholas & Nicolitsas, Daphne, 2022. "Employers' associations and trade unions: co-existence or more?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1140, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Torsten Geelan, 2013. "Responses of trade union confederations to the youth employment crisis," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(3), pages 399-413, August.
    10. Jörg Flecker & Franz Schultheis & Berthold Vogel, 2016. "A ‘Problem of Fairness’ in the Making: The Transformation of Public Services from the Perspective of Postal Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 768-789, December.
    11. Gregory Jackson & Sarosh Kuruvilla & Carola Frege, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 425-439, September.

    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. Jonas Agell, 2000. "On the Determinants of Labour Market Institutions: Rent-Sharing vs. Social Insurance," CESifo Working Paper Series 384, CESifo.
    2. Agell Jonas, 2002. "On the Determinants of Labour Market Institutions: Rent Seeking vs. Social Insurance," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 107-135, May.
    3. Chris F. Wright, 2017. "Employer Organizations and Labour Immigration Policy in Australia and the United Kingdom: The Power of Political Salience and Social Institutional Legacies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 347-371, June.
    4. Lewkowicz Jacek & Lewczuk Anna, 2017. "An Institutional Approach to Trade Union Density. The Case of Legal Origins and Political Ideology," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2(49), pages 35-49, December.
    5. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & Igor Álvarez, 2019. "National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 598-611, May.
    6. Hyman, Richard, 2001. "The Europeanisation – or the erosion – of industrial relations?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 751, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Helmerich, Nicole & Raj-Reichert, Gale & Zajak, Sabrina, 2021. "Exercising associational and networked power through the use of digital technology by workers in global value chains," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 142-166.
    8. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    9. Elischer, Sebastian, 2013. "Contingent Democrats in Action: Organized Labor and Regime Change in the Republic of Niger," GIGA Working Papers 231, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    10. Cruz-Martinez, Gibran, 2017. "Is there a Common Path that could have Conditioned the Degree of Welfare State Development in Latin America and the Caribbean?," SocArXiv 2y3mb, Center for Open Science.
    11. Palomo-Hierro, Sara & Loch, Adam & Pérez-Blanco, C. Dionisio, 2022. "Improving water markets in Spain: Lesson-drawing from the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    12. Hysing, Erik & Isaksson, Karolina, 2015. "Building acceptance for congestion charges – the Swedish experiences compared," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 52-60.
    13. Heather Connolly, 2020. "‘We just get a bit set in our ways’: renewing democracy and solidarity in UK trade unions," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 26(2), pages 207-222, May.
    14. Toke Aidt & Zafiris Tzannatos, 2002. "Unions and Collective Bargaining : Economic Effects in a Global Environment," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15241.
    15. Ergen, Timur & Kohl, Sebastian & Braun, Benjamin, 2021. "Firm foundations: The statistical footprint of multinational corporations as a problem for political economy," MPIfG Discussion Paper 21/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. Bob Hancke & Toon Van Overbeke & Dustin Voss, 2021. "Similar but different? Comparing economic policy responses to the Corona Crisis in the UK and Germany," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 165, European Institute, LSE.
    17. Baccaro, Lucio. & Locke, Richard M., 1959-, 1996. "The end of solidarity? : the decline of egalitarian wage policies in Italy and Sweden," Working papers 3899-96., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    18. Johan M. Berlin & Eric D. Carlström, 2015. "Cultural camouflage—a critical study of how artefacts are camouflaged and mental health policy subverted," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 111-126, April.
    19. Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick, 2013. "The International Trade Union Confederation: From Two (or More?) Identities to One," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 240-263, June.
    20. Robert Grafstein, 2000. "Employment, Party Economic Performance, and the Formation of Partisan Preferences," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 12(3), pages 325-351, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

    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:757. 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.