#89-DOF-4 "Business Labor Relations Goals and Practices across OECD 
           Countries" 
          (Richard B. Freeman, January 1989.) 

A WHOLE SENTENCE

ABSTRACT

    In this paper examine the evolution of unionism in developed 
countries in the 1980s and try to explain why unionism fared better in
some countries than in others . I find:
    1) Rates of unionisation diverged greatly among developed 
       countries.
    2) The primary reason for the divergence are differences in the in
       centives and opportunities different industrial relations 
       systems give employers to oppose unions. Unions fared best in 
       neo-corporatist settings and worst in settings where 
       decentralized bargaining creates a strong profit incentive for 
       managers to oppose unions and where management is relatively 
       free to act on that incentive .
    3) Differing rates of inflation also contributed to the divergence,
       with unions doing better in countries with high inflation. In 
       addition, unemployment raised density in settings where unions 
       disperse unemployment benefits.
    4) The composition of union members shifted from private sector 
       blue collar workers to public sector and white collar workers 
       in all countries, producing increased divisions within union 
       movements by category of worker.
    5) Union organizations and modes of operating changed 
       significantly in some countries with declining or endangered 
       unionism but not in others.