Where Have Two Million Trade Union Members Gone?

What Do Australian Unions Do?*

“…to union density, the unemployment rate and real wages, with the latter finding being consistent with the empirical evidence reported for the UK [see Carruth and Disney (1988)]. However, in contrast, Kenyon and Lewis (1990) report that union membership is positively related to the unemployment rate and to growth in real wages.…”

Determinants of Trade Union Membership

“…For example, if prices and money wages increase at the same rate and thus real wages do not change, both a threat and a credit effect are said to enhance union growth in 17 See, for example, Pedersen (1978), Sheflin, Troy and Koeller (1981), Carruth and Disney (1988) and Visser (1990, ch 4). 18 See also the surveys of the empirical evidence by Riley (1997) and Calmfors et al (2001, p.…”

“…Cyclical models mainly try to explain the ups and downs of trade union membership by corresponding movements in business cycle variables whereas shifts in underlying, or secular, variables which might explain the trend in union membership are neglected. Although shifts in the occupational composition of the labour force have been included in some business cycle models (see, for example, Stepina and Fiorito, 1986, and Schnabel, 1989a, 1989b, Carruth and 21 Real wage variants have been tested (and usually rejected) by Bain and Elsheikh (1976), Carruth and Disney (1988) and Carruth and Schnabel (1990). 22 Rare examples of econometric work in the business cycle tradition allowing for simultaneity include Hines (1964), Ashenfelter and Pencavel (1969), Booth (1983) and Schnabel (1989b).…”

Union membership and employment dynamics: A note

“…They postulate that the stage at which wage setting takes place is crucial for the labor market outcome of union-firm negotiations. The second assumption rests upon observations that changes in union membership move with changes in unemployment (Booth 1983, Carruth & Disney 1988. However, recent empirical evidence shows that a significant fraction of workers stay in the union even after having lost their union jobs.…”