Union Density in Norway and Sweden: Stability versus Decline

The aim is to explain why union density not only considerably higher in the Ghent country Sweden than non-Ghent Norway but also it has declined much more Sweden, particular among blue-collar workers. We show how changes Swedish unemployment insurance 2007–2013 were followed by a decline and white-collar unions successful developing supplementary income schemes that counteracted membership losses. This type of institutional explanation nevertheless insufficient. In Norway, too, decreased while workers have maintained their rate. Norwegian data further even without funds, possible achieve fairly high at workplaces with collective agreements. However, benefits like we find increasingly challenging establish an foundation for social custom unionization.