SOCIAL CUSTOM, MANAGEMENT OPPOSITION, AND TRADE-UNION MEMBERSHIP

This paper investigates the determinants of voluntary unionization in the labor market in a discrete-time version of the social custom model . Employer behavior in form of management opposition to union membersh ip is explicitly taken into account. Conditions for the existence of u nions in the long run are determined. It is shown that increasing the surplus per worker or the union bargaining power may have a negative i mpact on union density via more management opposition. Different incen tives for management opposition can explain the greater success of uni ons in centralized bargaining systems.