Trade unions provide a voice in the way firms are run, an input into reward systems and increased security of employment. But these vary with national context. Using transnational survey evidence, this article explores the relative impact of setting, and of unions and collective bargaining, on these issues. It is found that, irrespective of context, organizations are significantly more likely to make use of compulsory redundancies in the absence of unions and collective bargaining. However, in other areas, the impact of unions appeared less pronounced than that of the wider context. The article explores the reasons behind this, and the broader policy implications thereof.
AltJ (1985) Political parties, world demand and unemployment. American Political Science Review79(4): 1016–1040.
2.
AmableB (2003) The Diversity of Modern Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
BechterBBrandlBMeardiG (2012) Sectors or countries?European Journal of Industrial Relations18(3): 185–202.
4.
BoschGRuberyJLehndorffS (2007) European employment models under pressure to change. International Labour Review146(3–4): 253–277.
5.
BoteroJDjankovSLa PortaRLopez-de-SilanesF (2004) The regulation of labor. The Quarterly Journal of Economics119(4): 1339–1382.
6.
BoyerR (2006) How do institutions cohere and change. In: WoodGJamesP (eds) Institutions and Working Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–12.
7.
BoyerR (2010) The collapse of finance, but labour remains weak. Socio-Economic Review8(2): 348–353.
8.
BrewsterCMayrhoferWMorleyM (eds) (2004) Human Resource Management in Europe: Evidence of Convergence?London: Butterworth Heinemann.
9.
BrewsterCWoodGCroucherRBrookesM (2007a) Collective and individual voice: Convergence in Europe?International Journal of Human Resource Management18(7): 1246–1262.
10.
BrewsterCWoodGCroucherRBrookesM (2007b) Are works councils and joint consultative committees a threat to trade unions? A comparative analysis. Economic and Industrial Democracy28(1): 49–77.
11.
BrysonACharlwoodAForthJ (2006) Worker voice, managerial response and labour productivity: An empirical investigation. Industrial Relations Journal37(5): 438–455.
12.
BuddJGollanPWilkinsonA (2009) New approaches to employee voice and participation in organisations. Human Relations63(3): 1–8.
13.
CookeWN (1994) Employee participation programs, group-based incentives, and company performance: A union-nonunion comparison. Industrial and Labor Relations Review46: 594–609.
14.
CulpepperP (2001) Employers, public policy and the politics of decentralized cooperation in Germany and France. In: HallPSoskiceD (eds) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Basis of Competitive Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 275–306.
15.
DeckopJMangelRCirkaC (1999) Getting more than you pay for: Organisational citizenship behavior and pay-for-performance plans. The Academy of Management Journal42(4): 420–428.
16.
DeegRJacksonG (2008) Comparing capitalisms: Understanding institutional diversity and its implications for international business. Journal of International Business Studies39: 540–561.
17.
DjankovSLa PortaRLopez-de-SilanesFSchleiferA (2008) The law and economics of self-dealing. Journal of Financial Economics66(3): 430–465.
18.
DoellgastVHoltgreweUDeeryS (2009) The effects of national institutions and collective bargaining arrangements on job quality in front-line service workplaces. Industrial and Labor Relations Review62(4): 489–509.
DoreR (2008) Best practice winning out?Socio-Economic Review6(4): 779–784.
21.
DundonT (2002) Employer opposition and union avoidance in the UK. Industrial Relations Journal33(3): 234–245.
22.
DundonTRollinsonT (2004) Employment Relations in Non-Union Firms. London: Routledge.
23.
Estevez-AbeMIversonTSoskiceD (2001) Social protection and the formation of skills: A reinterpretation of the welfare state. In: HallPSoskiceD (eds) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Basis of Competitive Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 145–183.
24.
FerrerALluisS (2009) Should workers care about firm size?Industrial and Labor Relations Review62(1): 104–125.
25.
GallG (2003a) Introduction. In: GallG (ed.) Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition. London: Routledge, pp. 1–18.
26.
GallG (2003b) Employer opposition to union recognition. In: GallG (ed.) Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition. London: Routledge, pp. 79–96.
27.
GoergenMBrewsterCWoodG (2009) Corporate governance regimes and employment relations in Europe. Industrial Relations/Relations Industrielles64(6): 620–640.
28.
GoergenMBrewsterCWoodGWilkinsonA (2012) Varieties of capitalism and investments in human capital. Industrial Relations51(S1): 501–527.
29.
GollanP (2000) Non-union forms of employee representation in the United Kingdom and Australia. In: KaufmanBTarasD (eds) Non-union Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, pp. 410–452.
30.
GollanP (2005) His masters voice – the interplay between non-union and union representation arrangements at Eurotunnel. In: BairdMCooperRWestcottM (eds) Reworking Work: AIRAANZ 05: Proceedings of the 19th conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney: AIRAANZ, pp. 231–238.
31.
GollanP (2006) A process of transition: Employer strategies and outcomes of employee voice at Eurotunnel. Socio-Economic Review4(2): 337–351.
32.
GollanP (2009) Employer strategies towards non-union collective voice. In: WilkinsonAGollanPMarchingtonMLewinD (eds) Oxford Handbook of Participation in Organisations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
33.
GourevitchPShinnJ (2007) Political Power and Corporate Control: The New Global Politics of Corporate Governance. New Haven, CT: Princeton University Press.
34.
GuestD (1987) Human resource management and industrial relations, Journal of Management Studies24(5): 503–521.
35.
HallAPGingerichDW (2004) Varieties of capitalism and institutional complementarities in the macroeconomy: An empirical analysis. Max-Planck- Institut f. Gesellschaftsforschung - Discussion Paper 04/5, Cologne.
36.
HallPSoskiceD (2001) An introduction to the varieties of capitalism. In: HallPSoskiceD (eds) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Basis of Competitive Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–70.
37.
HanckeB (2001) Revisiting the French model: Coordination and restructuring in French industry in the 19802. In: HallDTSoskiceD (eds) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Competitiveness. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 305–334.
38.
HanckeBRhodesMThatcherM (2007) Introduction. In: HanckeBRhodesMThatcherM (eds) Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Conflict, Contradiction, and Complementarities in the European Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
39.
HaynesPBoxallPMackyK (2005) Non-union voice and the effectiveness of joint consultation in New Zealand. Economic and Industrial Democracy26(2): 229–256.
40.
HymanR (1975) Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction. London: Macmillan.
41.
HymanR (2002) European labour markets or European labour markets? Challenges for European labour. In: OttossonJMagnussonL (eds) Europe: One Labour Market?London: Peter Lang.
42.
KaufmanB (2004) What unions do: Insights from economic theory. Journal of Labor Research25(3): 351–382.
43.
KaufmanBTarasD (2000) Introduction. In: KaufmanBTarasD (eds) Non-union Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, pp. 410–452.
44.
KellyEDobbinF (1998) How affirmative action became diversity management: Employer response to anti-discrimination law, 1961–1996. American Behavioral Scientist41(7): 960–984.
45.
LaneCWoodG (2009) Diversity in capitalism and capitalist diversity. Economy and Society38(4): 531–551.
46.
La PortaRLopez-de-SilanesFShleiferAVishnyR (1997) Legal determinants of finance. Journal of Finance52(3): 1131–1150.
47.
La PortaRLopez-de-SilanesFShleiferAVishnyR (1998) Law and finance. Journal of Political Economy106(6): 1113–1155.
48.
MarsdenD (1999) A Theory of Employment Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
49.
MayrhoferWBrewsterCMorleyMLedolterJ (2011) Hearing a different drummer? Evidence of convergence in European HRM. Human Resource Management Review21(1): 50–67.
50.
MorinM-L (2005) Labour law and new forms of corporate organisation. International Labour Review144(1): 5–30.
51.
NorthDC (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
52.
PalmerDWhittenG (2000) Government competence, economic performance and endogenous election dates. Electoral Studies19(2–3): 413–426.
53.
PsychogiosAWoodG (2010) Human resource management in Greece in comparative perspective: Alternative institutionalist perspectives and empirical realities. International Journal of Human Resource Management21(14): 2614–2630.
54.
RamsayH (2003) Fool’s gold: European Works Councils and workplace democracy. Industrial Relations Journal28(4): 314–322.
55.
RedmanTWilkinsonA (2009) Downsizing. In: RedmanTWilkinsonA (eds) Contemporary Human Resource Management. London: FT/Prentice Hall, pp. 381–404.
56.
RogersJStreeckW (eds) (1995) Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
57.
TarasD (2006) Non-union representation and employer intent. Socio-Economic Review4(2): 321–336.
58.
TarasDKaufmanB (2006) Non-union employee representation in North America: Diversity, controversy, and uncertain future. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series, No. 06–46. Georgia State University, Atlanta.
59.
TaylorM (2007) Empirical evidence against technological innovation. In: HanckeB (ed.) Debating Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 221–247.
60.
TerryM (1999) Systems of collective representation in non-union firms in the UK. Industrial Relations Journal30(1): 16–30.
61.
WhitleyR (1999) Divergent Capitalisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
62.
WilkinsonA (2005) Downsizing, rightsizing or dumbsizing? Quality, human resources and the management of sustainability. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence16(8–9): 27–29.
