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This article provides an overview of academic and public policy debates on the role and effects of collective bargaining. The motivation behind this article is that the academic and political debate is – and ever was – characterized by many controversies. It is explained that these controversies often arise because of different disciplinary, theoretical and empirical approaches. It will also be outlined how the empirical and theoretical debates influenced the Zeitgeist in public policy making. Hence, the article provides an overview of the knowledge on the role and effects of collective bargaining as well as how this knowledge influenced and guided (or not) politically initiated institution building and reforms of collective bargaining systems.

Der Verfasser testet unterschiedliche theoretische Hypothesen auf der Basis von Daten aus 19 OECD-Ländern im Zeitraum von 1971 bis 2000. Insbesondere erfolgt eine Untersuchung der Rolle, Stärke und institutionellen Ausstattung von Gewerkschaften, betrieblichen Arbeitnehmervertretungen, der Sozialpartnerschaft und dem System der kollektiven Lohnverhandlungen. Diese unterschiedlichen Dimensionen der Arbeitsbeziehungen werden zunächst auf theoretischer Ebene diskutiert, um dann empirische Operationalisierungen vorzunehmen. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung machen deutlich, dass ein Zusammenhang zwischen dem gewerkschaftlichen Organisationsgrad und der Streikaktivität besteht. Konjunkturelle Schwankungen können demgegenüber nur einen geringen Anteil der Streikaktivität erklären. (ICE2)

Angesichts der Veränderung der Arbeit hat auch der Arbeitskampf in den letzten Jahren einen Wandel durchlaufen. Der vorliegende Band gibt nun einen interdisziplinären Überblick hinsichtlich der rechtlichen und ökonomischen Bedingungen des Arbeitskampfes, seinen internationalen Dimensionen in Europa und liefert Einsichten in individuelle und kollektive Formen und Praktiken des Kampfes um und für Arbeit.

ResumenSobre un conjunto de datos empresariales representativos de todos los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea se analiza la relación entre diferentes procesos y estructuras institucionales de negociación colectiva y la evolución de la productividad laboral. Los resultados muestran efectos de amplio alcance. Algunos procesos y estructuras, en particular los sistemas sin coordinación entre unidades, parecen menoscabar el rendimiento empresarial, mientras que los sistemas coordinados lo mejoran. En consecuencia, lo importante son los procesos y estructuras institucionales en que se inscribe la negociación colectiva y no la cuestión de si la negociación debe ser colectiva o individual.

AbstractUsing representative company‐level data for all Member States of the European Union, the authors analyse the relationship between different processes and institutional structures of collective bargaining and the development of company labour productivity. Their results clearly show that these differences have wide‐ranging effects. While some processes and structures of collective bargaining – specifically sectorally uncoordinated systems – appear to be detrimental to company performance, the opposite can be said about sectorally coordinated systems. Thus, what matters are the processes and institutional structures in which collective bargaining is embedded and not whether bargaining should be conducted collectively or individually.

RésuméS'appuyant sur des données représentatives au niveau des entreprises, disponibles pour l'ensemble de l'UE, les auteurs analysent la relation entre les processus et structures institutionnelles de négociation collective et l'évolution de la productivité du travail. Ils montrent que la nature du système de négociation a une influence marquée: certaines caractéristiques sont associées à une baisse de performance (notamment la présence d'un système de négociation sectorielle non coordonné), d'autres à une amélioration (systèmes sectoriels coordonnés). Plus que le caractère individuel ou collectif de la négociation, c'est donc bien la nature des processus et structures dans lesquels elle s'inscrit qui importe en la matière.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial relations, and the consequences of this embeddedness for industrial relations outcomes. First, starting from the paradoxical observation of a trend towards homogeneity within a complex, multi-layered European industrial relations system consisting of heterogeneous and autonomous agents, the paper aims to explicate the mechanisms which produce these similarities. Second, the paper seeks to analyse potential mechanisms for transnational trade union cooperation and, third, it concludes by outlining its applicability as the basis for methodological approaches which enable realistic and policy relevant analyses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual and focusses on the development of a general micro-theoretical framework which captures European industrial relations actors' behaviour and outcomes. It integrates theoretical and empirical accounts from differing social science disciplines and from various methodological starting points on trade union action and interaction into one general micro-theoretical framework.FindingsStarting from a typology of trade union goals, the authors show how various social mechanisms lead to interdependencies between trade unions and review empirical evidence for their consequences. The authors, then, identify a set of motives for transnational cooperation that would allow outcomes that are in line with trade union objectives.Originality/valueAgainst the background that previous studies on trade union action and cross-national interaction have paid less attention to the puzzling stylised fact that industrial relations outcomes are mimicked by heterogeneous and autonomous agents actors in different countries, the authors address this research gap by developing a novel general micro-theoretical framework for the analysis of transnational trade union action and interaction in order to better understand the underlying causal mechanisms for the common behaviour and outcomes of autonomous actors.

In this article it is argued that the economic crisis has made national collective bargaining systems increasingly multi-layered, perforated and dynamically unstable, i.e. hybrid. The authors explain these transformations in terms of the concomitance of two different sources of change which do not necessarily follow the same logics. The first source stems from national systems' endogenous logic of path dependency and the second from pressure to reform in accordance with exogenously applied strategies and logics. It is argued that these sources act like a whipsaw, pushing and pulling national collective bargaining systems between the two logics, leading to hybrid collective bargaining systems.

Against the background that corporatism is on the decline in recent decades, one could expect that the representativeness of employer and business associations is also declining. In this article it is argued and shown that, contrary to this expectation, this decline is not observable for employer and business associations. So the question arises as to whether employer and business associations are simply relics of a different era with no longer any purpose. Using a cross-national approach it is shown that by adapting their organizational structure as well as their activities to the changing needs of business, employer and business organizations are as 'strong' and active nowadays as ever.