IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qss/dqsswp/2204.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How Should We Think About Employers’ Associations?

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Bryson

    (University college London)

  • Paul Willman

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

We maintain that employer associations are a specific form of employer collusion that is overt, formal and labour market focused which encompasses but is by no means confined to collective bargaining. We consider the conditions under which this form of collusion might emerge, and how it might develop. Since the context is the decline of employers’ associations in collective bargaining, we look at how collective bargaining involvement (and its disappearance) might relate to the growth or decline of other forms of collusion in areas such as product and financial markets, and political influence. Our central contention is that employers’ associations continue to perform an important role in helping employers set the terms of trade, albeit one that has adapted to the demise of sectoral bargaining.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Bryson & Paul Willman, 2022. "How Should We Think About Employers’ Associations?," DoQSS Working Papers 22-04, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp2204.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natarajan Balasubramanian & Jin Woo Chang & Mariko Sakakibara & Jagadeesh Sivadasan & Evan Starr, 2022. "Locked In? The Enforceability of Covenants Not to Compete and the Careers of High-Tech Workers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 349-396.
    2. Alan B. Krueger & Orley Ashenfelter, 2022. "Theory and Evidence on Employer Collusion in the Franchise Sector," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 324-348.
    3. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card & Henry S. Farber & Michael R. Ransom, 2021. "Monopsony in the Labor Market New Empirical Results and New Public Policies," Working Papers 652, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    4. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    5. 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.
    6. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card & Henry S. Farber & Michael R. Ransom, 2021. "Monopsony in the Labor Market: New Empirical Results and New Public Policies," Working Papers 294, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    7. Henry Mintzberg, 1978. "Patterns in Strategy Formation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(9), pages 934-948, May.
    8. Michela Giorcelli, 2021. "The origin and development of firm management," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(2), pages 259-275.
    9. Alex Bryson & Morris M. Kleiner, 2019. "Re‐Examining Advances in Occupational Licensing Research: Issues and Policy Implications," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(4), pages 721-731, December.
    10. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card & Henry Farber & Michael R. Ransom, 2022. "Monopsony in the Labor Market: New Empirical Results and New Public Policies," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 1-10.
    11. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
    12. David Marsden & Richard Belfield, 2010. "Institutions and the Management of Human Resources: Incentive Pay Systems in France and Great Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 235-283, June.
    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. Melanie Simms, 2024. "The dynamics shaping experiences and prospects of employer coordination in a Liberal Market Economy: The case of Scotland," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(3), pages 606-628, August.

    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. Gibson, Matthew, 2021. "Employer Market Power in Silicon Valley," IZA Discussion Papers 14843, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Allan, Corey & Maré, David C. & Hyslop, Dean R., 2025. "Monopsony in the New Zealand Labour Market: First Estimates from Administrative Data," IZA Discussion Papers 17614, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Andrew Leigh, 2023. "How uncompetitive markets hurt workers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21.
    4. Mora, Claudio & Prem, Mounu & Rodriguez-Lesmes, Paul & Vargas, Juan F., 2024. "Health Workforce Reallocation in the Aftermath of Conflict: Evidence from Colombia," SocArXiv 2dwfu, Center for Open Science.
    5. Burdin, Gabriel & Garcia-Louzao, Jose, 2025. "Employee-owned firms and the careers of young workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    6. Jose Garcia-Louzao & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2023. "Labor Market Competition and Inequality," Bank of Lithuania Working Paper Series 117, Bank of Lithuania.
    7. Blömer, Maximilian J. & Guertzgen, Nicole & Pohlan, Laura & Stichnoth, Holger & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2024. "Unemployment effects of the German minimum wage in an equilibrium job search model," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Brianna L. Alderman & Roger D. Blair & Perihan Ö. Saygin, 2023. "Monopsony, wage discrimination, and public policy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 572-583, July.
    9. Kahn, Matthew E. & Tracy, Joseph, 2024. "Monopsony in spatial equilibrium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    10. Bassier, Ihsaan, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Bassier, Ihsaan, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121970, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Ihsaan Bassier, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," CEP Discussion Papers dp1872, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Chau, Nancy H. & Kanbur, Ravi & Soundararajan, Vidhya, 2022. "Employer Power and Employment in Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 15514, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Meiselbach, Mark K. & Abraham, Jean M., 2023. "Do minimum wage laws affect employer-sponsored insurance provision?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Rania Gihleb & Osea Giuntella & Jian Qi Tan, 2024. "The impact of right‐to‐work laws on long hours and work schedules," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 696-713, June.
    16. Korpi, Martin & Halvarsson, Daniel, 2023. "City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality," Ratio Working Papers 363, The Ratio Institute.
    17. Bassier, Ihsaan, 2023. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Thomas Amossé & Alex Bryson & John Forth & Héloïse Petit, 2025. "The micro‐foundations of employment systems: An empirical case study of Britain and France," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 63(1), pages 3-29, March.
    19. Thomas Amossé & Philippe Askenazy & Martin Chevalier & Christine Erhel & Héloïse Petit & Antoine Rebérioux, 2016. "Industrial Relations and Firms’ Reactions to the Recession: A Comparative Micro-Econometric Analysis of France and Great Britain [Relations sociales et ajustements à la crise : une analyse micro-st," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-02172455, HAL.
    20. Brian Callaci & Matthew Gibson & Sérgio Pinto & Marshall Steinbaum & Matt Walsh, 2024. "Grads on the Go: The Effect of Franchise No-Poaching Restrictions On Worker Earnings," Upjohn Working Papers 24-405, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    employers’ associations; collusion; collective bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:qss:dqsswp:2204. 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: Dr Neus Bover Fonts (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dqioeuk.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.