This study examines why unions, after winning certification rights, fail to secure agreements in roughly one of every four first-contract negotiations. Hypotheses are derived from Chamberlain's theory that the relative power of the negotiating parties is a function of the costs of agreeing and...

This study tests a model in which programmatic features of joint union-management programs, the exercise of relative power options by employers, and organizational constraints are hypothesized to influence the intensity of collaborative efforts and, in turn, changes in employee-supervisor...

This study analyzes determinants of union election outcomes at the level of the work unit. Within a theoretical framework of utility maximization, voting behavior is modeled as a function of the social psychology of groups, the economic and sociopolitical environment, NLRB procedures, and the...

The authors develop a model of NLRB decision-making that, unlike the models employed in previous studies, distinguishes between decision-making in more important, complex cases and less important, simpler cases. Using a representative sample of Board decisions over 1957–86, they find that...

Although managers of multinational companies have identified labor practices and regulations, access to skilled labor, and similar factors as important considerations in foreign direct investment decision-making, few studies have empirically examined the influence of industrial relations factors...

This study investigates the effectiveness of employee participation in achieving product quality improvement in union versus nonunion settings and in programs unilaterally administered by management versus programs with joint union-management administration. An analysis of data from two surveys...

This analysis examines whether union representation positively or negatively influences the effectiveness of employee participation programs and group-based incentives in improving firm performance. Examined at the firm level, a model of the independent and interaction effects of participation,...