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

Addison, J.; Teixeira, P.; Stephani, J.; Bellmann, L.

doi:10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9

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

Addison, J.; Teixeira, P.; Stephani, J.; Bellmann, L.

Authors

Professor John Addison john.addison@durham.ac.uk
Professor

P. Teixeira

J. Stephani

L. Bellmann

Abstract

That German trade unionism is in profound decline seems to be beyond dispute. More controversial is the implied change in union impact on worker wages. A linked employer-employee dataset is deployed over an interval of continuing decline in unionism to address this issue. Over the sample period 2000–2010 it is found that joining a sectoral agreement always produces higher wages, while exiting one no longer leads to wage losses if the transition is to a firm agreement. Leaving a firm agreement to non-coverage also leads to wage reductions, while joining one from non-coverage appears decreasingly favorable. The one constant is the persistence of a small positive union wage gap.

Citation

Addison, J., Teixeira, P., Stephani, J., & Bellmann, L. (2015). Declining Unions and the Coverage Wage Gap: Can German Unions Still Cut It?. Journal of Labor Research, 36(3), 301-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 11, 2015
Online Publication Date	Apr 12, 2015
Publication Date	Sep 1, 2015
Deposit Date	Apr 22, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Apr 12, 2016
Journal	Journal of Labor Research
Print ISSN	0195-3613
Electronic ISSN	1936-4768
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	36
Issue	3
Pages	301-317
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12122-015-9209-9
Keywords	Firm-level agreements, Sectoral collective bargaining, Bargaining transitions, Wages, Germany, J31, J51, J53.
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1440085