TY - JOUR
T1 - New evidence on unions and plant closings : Britain in the 1990s
AU - ADDISON, John T.
AU - HEYWOOD, John S.
AU - WEI, Xiangdong
PY - 2003/4/1
Y1 - 2003/4/1
N2 - In this paper, we exploit the longitudinal element of the 1990 and 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Surveys for Britain to investigate the effect of unionism on establishment closings. Contrary to both recent U.S. research and long-standing British work, we find a strong positive association between two measures of unionism-union recognition for collective bargaining purposes and union coverage-and plant closings. This association is robust to the inclusion of highly detailed industry controls but is driven by plants that are parts of multiestablishment entities. No such relationship obtains in the case of single-plant enterprises. In explaining our findings, we address their consistency with the widely perceived reduction in the "disadvantages of (British) unionism" in recent years.
AB - In this paper, we exploit the longitudinal element of the 1990 and 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Surveys for Britain to investigate the effect of unionism on establishment closings. Contrary to both recent U.S. research and long-standing British work, we find a strong positive association between two measures of unionism-union recognition for collective bargaining purposes and union coverage-and plant closings. This association is robust to the inclusion of highly detailed industry controls but is driven by plants that are parts of multiestablishment entities. No such relationship obtains in the case of single-plant enterprises. In explaining our findings, we address their consistency with the widely perceived reduction in the "disadvantages of (British) unionism" in recent years.
UR - http://commons.ln.edu.hk/sw_master/2179
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037998073&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2307/1061653
DO - 10.2307/1061653
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
SN - 0038-4038
VL - 69
SP - 822
EP - 841
JO - Southern Economic Journal
JF - Southern Economic Journal
IS - 4
ER -