Economic models of trade union behaviour very often focus on the
US-american system of labour relations. To a large extend this is
probably due to the fact that the early analyses of
#Ross (1948) - Trade Union Wage Policy# and
#Dunlop (1944) - Wage Determination under Trade Unions#
were of US-American origin. Unfortunately,
these models are of little value in settings that strongly deviate
from the labour market environment for which they were designed.
In many European countries, closed shop arrangements are not
possible and wage discrimination between union- and non-union
members is illegal. The question then is, why employees join the
union when membership is not compulsory and/or does not lead to a
higher wage while there are positive membership fees. An
interesting approach to this problem is based on
#Becker (1974) - A Theory of Social Interactions#,
#Coleman (1990) - Foundations of Social Theory# and
#Akerlof (1980) - A Theory of Social... Unemployment may be one Consequence#
who try to join elements of sociology and economics. This so called
"social custom" approach has been applied to trade union economics by
#Booth (1984) - A public choice model of trade union behaviour and membership#,
#Booth (1985) - The free rider problem and... model of trade union membership# and
#Naylor (1989) - Strikes, Free Riders, and Social Customs#.
References