effects of centralized vs. decentralized bargaining structures on wages, inflation, strikes, the bargaining process, and the negotiation process
Essay theme:
“Discuss the effects of centralized vs. decentralized bargaining structures on wages, inflation, strikes, the bargaining process, and the negotiation process”
Alina Tiltu
Course name: POLI 398X
Collective bargaining is a process that through negotiations establishes terms and conditions that are essential for employment. Collective bargaining facilitates coordination between unions and employers in wage setting and other aspects of industrial relations.
Although collective bargaining has the general objective of supplementing or supplanting, the free market, it has not followed a uniform pattern of development in different national or industrial situations. Instead, a variety of institutional arrangements have evolved in implementing bargaining relationships between employers and employees organizations.1
These differences at the structural level of bargaining brought contrasting consequences in the labour market. The bargaining structure refers to the employers and unions that take part in these negotiations and are responsible for the final content of the collective agreement. The structure of bargaining is also important as it affects a broad range of aspects as: the bargaining outcomes, the roles of unions and management and the types of issues that are brought to the table.2
There are two structures of collective bargaining that are often implemented: centralized and decentralized. Centralized bargaining refers to agreements made at the group level involving many plants and is aimed to protect the working class in industry and at the national level, while decentralized bargaining occurs when agreements refer to just one plant. On the one hand, centralized bargaining is usually associated with lower and less persistent levels of unemployment, less wage dispersion and fewer strikes, whereas decentralized bargaining is associated with higher and more persistent levels of unemployment, more wage dispersion and
“Discuss the effects of centralized vs. decentralized bargaining structures on wages, inflation, strikes, the bargaining process, and the negotiation process”
Alina Tiltu
Course name: POLI 398X
Collective bargaining is a process that through negotiations establishes terms and conditions that are essential for employment. Collective bargaining facilitates coordination between unions and employers in wage setting and other aspects of industrial relations.
Although collective bargaining has the general objective of supplementing or supplanting, the free market, it has not followed a uniform pattern of development in different national or industrial situations. Instead, a variety of institutional arrangements have evolved in implementing bargaining relationships between employers and employees organizations.1
These differences at the structural level of bargaining brought contrasting consequences in the labour market. The bargaining structure refers to the employers and unions that take part in these negotiations and are responsible for the final content of the collective agreement. The structure of bargaining is also important as it affects a broad range of aspects as: the bargaining outcomes, the roles of unions and management and the types of issues that are brought to the table.2
There are two structures of collective bargaining that are often implemented: centralized and decentralized. Centralized bargaining refers to agreements made at the group level involving many plants and is aimed to protect the working class in industry and at the national level, while decentralized bargaining occurs when agreements refer to just one plant. On the one hand, centralized bargaining is usually associated with lower and less persistent levels of unemployment, less wage dispersion and fewer strikes, whereas decentralized bargaining is associated with higher and more persistent levels of unemployment, more wage dispersion and
Bibliography: 1. Brunello Giorgio. European Journal of Political Economy 14, no. 2 Np: May 1998. 2. Daniels, Joseph P., and Nourzad, Farrokh, VanHoose, David D. “Openness, centralized wage bargaining, and inflation.” European Journal of Political Economy 22, no. 4 Np: December 2006. 3. Ferreiro Jesus. “Decentralized versus centralized collective bargaining: is the collective bargaining structure in Spain efficient?” Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 26, no. 4 Armonk: 2004. 4. Golden, Miriam A., and Londregan, John B. American Journal of Political Science 50, no. 1 Np: January 2006. 5. Groth Charlotta, and Johansson Åsa. European Economic Review 48, no. 6 Np: December 2004. 6. Katz, Harry C. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. Np: October 1, 1993. 7. Lawrence Mishel. “The Structural Determinants of Union Bargaining Power.“ Industrial and Labour Relations Review 40, no. 1 Np: October 1986. 8. Peirce Jon, and Bentham Karen Joy. Canadian Industrial Relations. Toronto: 2007. 9. Weber Arnold R. “The Structure of Collective Bargaining and Bargaining Power: Foreign Experiences.” Journal of Law and Economics. Np: 1963.