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

Abstract

(2015) 'Declining unions and the coverage wage gap : can German unions still cut it?', Journal of labor research., 36 (3). pp. 301-317. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9Publisher's copyright statement:The nal publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.

The Rise in Orientation at Collective Bargaining Without a Formal Contract

“…Other studies mostly identify such wage effects from establishment‐level switches between bargaining regimes using fixed effects or difference‐in‐difference methods (Addison et al. , ; Gürtzgen ). This identification strategy could be more promising when someone is interested in causal effects of changing bargaining regimes.…”

“…As the model requires strict exogeneity of the control variables, I refrain from control variables such as profits or wages that may be affected by bargaining participation (Addison et al. ; Gürtzgen ). Similarly, I cannot control for variables such as working time, which is directly regulated in bargaining contracts, or innovative activity that may also be affected by collective bargaining participation (Addison et al.…”

The one constant: a causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked‐employer‐employee data

“…We replicate the stylised facts that sector‐wide bargaining agreements are still the dominant regime in terms of employees, covering about 49% of all employees in 2014. The share of covered employees has steadily fallen by about 12% points, as also documented in other studies (Fitzenberger et al ., , Addison, ) . The share of employees covered by firm‐level contracts has been relatively stable, such that individual bargaining has become more widespread.…”