Description
Book SynopsisTraces the story of the postwar labor movements supported by a blend of historical investigation and sophisticated statistical analysis in a framework for comparative research. This book integrates institutional explanation and comparative method in a way that balances comparative generality with the historical experiences of specific cases.
Trade Review"The author uses a blend of sociological analysis of institutions and econometric analysis of labor markets to provide a complex yet insightful analysis of the rise and fall of unions in eighteen countries during the post-World War II period. This analysis will appeal to serious students of the labor market from both disciplines."--Choice "Western gives union growth and decline in the democratic capitalist core as close to a definitive treatment as such a large topic is ever likely to receive. His account is both remarkably rigorous in its use of evidence and lucid in its telling. Sociologists of the economy and comparative political economists (of whatever academic affiliation) will need to study, teach, and draw inspiration from this book."--Alex Hicks, Journal of Politics
Table of ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1Class Power, Market Power, and the Comparative Method32Variation in Union Membership143Labor Market Centralization294The Ghent System505Political Parties and Trade Unions666Cross-Sectional Analysis of Union Density877The Business Cycle and Union Growth1028The Structure of Labor Markets1229Introducing the Decline of Unions in the 1980s14310Power, Efficiency, and Institutional Change15611Globalization, Institutional Change, and Union Decline in the 1980s17612Conclusion193Appendix: Data and Methods199Bibliography205Index223
