Using annual data on aggregate union membership and density in fourteen European countries, the authors examine the short-term and long-term determinants of the postwar pattern of union growth anddecline in Western Europe since 1950. In an attempt to explain the observed convergence in trends...

In this paper we examine the connection between union membership and economic inequality. Using several surveys from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) covering the period 1985-2002, we initially examine the impact of relative earnings position on union membership and show that...

Using surveys from the International Social Survey Programme covering the period 1985-2002 for seven European countries (West and East Germany, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and Great Britain), we examine the effect of relative earnings on union membership and show that union density is...

<DIV>The Dutch polder model- recently dubbed a "success story" by Bill Clinton and Jacques Delors - plays a prominent role in current discussions about possibilities for a new "capitalism with a social face", and appeals to experts all over the world. Just ten years ago the Swedish sociologist Göran...</div>

We investigate the empirical determinants of social pacts over the 1970–2004 period. We adopt a political economy approach, showing that governments are more likely to sign a pact when the cost of a conflict with trade unions is relatively larger. Such a cost depends on macroeconomic variables...