Labour Unions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China

Yang, Chih Hai; Tsou, Meng Wen

doi:10.1111/manc.12225

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Recent research in China have identified negative impact of degree of unionization on productivity (Yang & Tsou, 2018). Despite similarity between China and India on multiple parameters such as overall population; presence of large state-owned enterprises and comparatively recent changes in economic policy, we have found evidence for positive association between firm productivity (measured as sales per employee and PAT per employee) and degree of unionization in the context of India which is intriguing and counterintuitive.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

“…Interestingly, research in same country has also led to contradictory findings. For example, positive (negative) relationship between unionization and employee-level productivity has been identified in Japan, Germany, and China by Morikawa (2010), Fitzroy and Kraft (1987) and Budd, Chi, Wang, and Xie (2014) (Brunello (1992), Schnabel (1991) and Yang and Tsou (2018) and Bradley, Kim, and Tianc (2016) (both in China).…”

Section: Germane Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring relationship between degree of unionization and firm productivity in Indian listed firms

Balasubramanian

Dash

2020

Labor and Society

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This study is among the first to explore the relationship between unionization and firms' productivity, defined as sales per employee, and profitability per employee in India. The Indian context is important given the structural changes in Indian economy post‐1991 (liberalization and movement from dirigisme to an open economy), the unique sociocultural context of Indian unions and growth and size of economy. The final dataset of the study consisted of 91 largest firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in India. The data were collected from audited annual reports and analyzed using a modified Cobb–Douglas function. It was found that the degree of unionization, which is percentage of employees who were member of a trade union, had an overall positive impact on the firms' productivity. Contrary to the dominant view of private sector firms being more productive, we found empirical evidence for the effect of unionization on productivity being greater for public sector firms.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

Section: Germane Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring relationship between degree of unionization and firm productivity in Indian listed firms

Balasubramanian

Dash

2020

Labor and Society

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“…The impact of unionism on productivity was investigated heavily by multiple researchers with varying conclusions. Some researchers reported the unionization positive impacts on productivity (Freeman and Medoff, 1983; Allen,1984; Gao et al , 2020), while other researcher either reported the opposite case (Yang and Tsou, 2018) or found that the impacts of unions on productivity may be country-specific, industry-specific, and even time-specific (Doucouliagos and Laroche, 2003). Similarly, conflicting conclusions in the literature were made about the unionization cost impact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and assessment of the unionization factors of the US electrical construction trade

Said

Mali

Deshmukh

2021

ECAM

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PurposeConstruction trade unions have been a vital force in improving the job standards and wellbeing of trade workers. However, the union membership in the construction industry has dropped by half between 1983 and 2017. The objective of this study is to identify and assess the controlling factors of construction electrical trade unionization in the United States.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved four main steps. Literature review and industry townhall meetings were conducted to identify the electrical trade unionization factors. A new unionization trend metric was developed using available union market share data to quantify the growth and decline of local unions. Mixed-mode surveying was used to collect questionnaire and interview data on the unionization factors in different local units of the electrical trade union. Finally, the survey data from the questionnaire and interviews were merged and their correlation with the unionization trend data was assessed.FindingsThe study found that the unionization of this specialty trade is dependent on increasing the crew ratio, expanding the non-apprenticeship union membership program, organizing larger contractors, and continuing the union focus on public and heavy industrial projects.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the construction management body of knowledge by providing a data-driven industry-wide assessment of the factors that affect electrical construction unionization. The study advances the understanding of construction trade unions by narrowing the theory-practice knowledge gap, illustrating the use of macro quantitative empirical research methods, and developing a new unionization trend metric.

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“…From the economic perspective, some researchers have found that a union positively impacts on enterprise productivity (Doucouliagos et al, 2018;Fang et al, 2019;Freeman and Medoff, 1984). Conversely, two studies analyzing Chinese data indicate that unions are not conducive to improving enterprise productivity (Liu et al, 2013;Yang and Tsou, 2018). These arguments indicate that unions may indirectly contribute to improving corporation performance by first enhancing individual employee performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of union commitment on job performance in China

Huang

Yuan

Shen

et al. 2020

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PurposeThis study aims to reveal the mechanism through which union commitment influences job performance in China, focusing on the mediating role of employee participation and the moderating role of affective commitment.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a cross-sectional design was employed to collect data from 596 union members in 33 unionized enterprises in China's Pearl River Delta region.FindingsThe results demonstrate that union commitment is positively related to both employee participation and job performance. Moreover, employee participation mediates the positive relationship between union commitment and job performance. In addition, affective commitment strengthens the relationship between union commitment and employee participation and the mediating effect of employee participation.Practical implicationsThis study indirectly identifies the impact of a union on organizational performance from an individual-level perspective. It also provides new evidence for union construction in order to obtain support from corporate executives in China.Originality/valueThis study makes an important contribution to the literature by proposing and examining the mediating role of employee participation and the moderating role of affective commitment in the underlying mechanism between union commitment and job performance.

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Labour Unions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Exploring relationship between degree of unionization and firm productivity in Indian listed firms

Exploring relationship between degree of unionization and firm productivity in Indian listed firms

Identification and assessment of the unionization factors of the US electrical construction trade

Effects of union commitment on job performance in China

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