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Signals and cycles productivity growth and changes in union status in British companies

Gregg, Paul, Machin, Stephen ORCID: 0009-0004-8130-2701 and Metcalf, David (1991) Signals and cycles productivity growth and changes in union status in British companies. CEP discussion paper (49). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Productivity growth in 329 companies (total employment = 1.96 million workers) is analysed for the period 1984-1989. The study breaks new ground by (i) analysing the impact of changes in union status - such as repudiation of a closed shop or derecognition - on productivity growth; (ii) examining the impact of interactions among product market and industrial relations variables on companies'' productivity changes; (iii) including companies in the service sector as well as in manufacturing. The results suggest no difference in productivity growth between union and non-union companies over the years 1984-7. But in 1988 and 1989 unionised companies experienced faster productivity growth than their non-union counterparts. This wedge in productivity growth over non-union companies was twice as large in companies where there had been a diminution in union status compared with companies where union status was unchanged. The results probably reflect both the signal that management has (re-)asserted its prerogatives and cycles in union effects shaped by the intertemporal behaviour of the economic cycle.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Additional Information: © 1991 The Authors
Divisions: Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited: 21 Aug 2008 13:15
Last Modified: 25 Oct 2024 13:49
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/21087

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