Working paper
OA Policy
English

Enlightenment and solidarity: National union movements, distributive norms and the union effect on support for redistribution

Publication date2016
Abstract

Using data from the European Social Survey (2002-14), this paper explores the effect of union membership on support for redistribution. We hypothesize that the wage-bargaining practices of unions promote egalitarian distributive norms among low-wage and high-wage union members alike and that distributive norms in turn lead union members to support redistribution. Consistent with our expectations, the empirical analysis shows that the solidarity effect of union membership is strongest when unions encompass a very large share of the labor force or primarily organize low-wage workers. We also show that low-wage workers have become a significantly less important union constituency in many European countries over the time period covered by our analysis.

Citation (ISO format)
MOSIMANN, Nadja, PONTUSSON, Harry Jonas. Enlightenment and solidarity: National union movements, distributive norms and the union effect on support for redistribution. 2016
Main files (1)
Working paper
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:83339
578views
223downloads

Technical informations

Creation13/04/2016 16:20:00
First validation13/04/2016 16:20:00
Update time15/03/2023 00:18:34
Status update15/03/2023 00:18:34
Last indexation31/10/2024 03:16:55
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack