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Socio-Economic Review 2005 3(1):1-24; doi:10.1093/SER/mwh011
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© Oxford University Press and the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 2005. All rights reserved.

Determinants of trade union membership in West Germany: evidence from micro data, 1980–2000*

Claus Schnabel1 and Joachim Wagner2

1 Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany and 2 Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, 21332 Lüneburg, Germany

Correspondence: claus.schnabel{at}wiso.uni-erlangen.de

An empirical analysis of various waves of the ALLBUS social survey shows that union density fell substantially in West Germany from 1980 to 2000. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and women and for different groups of the workforce. Repeated cross-sectional analyses suggest that a number of personal, occupational and attitudinal variables such as sex, occupational status, firm size and political orientation play a role in the unionization process, although the influence of some variables is not robust over time. While the results are consistent with cost–benefit considerations on the sides of employees and unions, our estimations do not support individualization theory and they cast some doubt on a crucial prediction from social custom theory.

Key Words: union membership • union density • Germany • JEL classification: J51


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