Unionisation structures, productivity, and firm performance

Arbeitspapier

This paper studies how different unionisation structures affect firm productivity, firm performance, and consumer welfare in a monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous firms and free entry. While centralised bargaining induces tougher selection among hetero- geneous producers and thus increases average productivity, firm-level bargaining allows less productive entrants to remain in the market. Centralised bargaining also results in higher average output and profit levels than either decentralised bargaining or a competitive labour market. From a welfare perspective, the choice between centralised and decentralised bar- gaining involves a potential trade-off between product variety and product prices. Extending the model to a two-country setup, I furthermore show that the positive effect of centralised bargaining on average productivity can be overturned when firms face international low-wage competition.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SFB 649 Discussion Paper ; No. 2009,027

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining: General ; Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection ; Trade and Labor Market Interactions
• Subject: Trade Unions ; Productivity ; Firm Performance ; International Competition ; Tarifpolitik ; Lohnverhandlungen ; Gewerkschaftlicher Organisationsgrad ; Produktivität ; Unternehmensentwicklung ; Konsumentenrente ; Niedriglohn ; Internationaler Wettbewerb ; Theorie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Braun, Sebastian
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Humboldt University of Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649 - Economic Risk
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/25343
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET