Institutions, Unionisation and Voice: the Relative Impact of Context and Actors on Firm Level Practice. Institutions, Unionisation and Voice: the Relative Impact of Context and Actors on Firm Level Practice

Trade unions provide a voice in the way firms are run, an input into reward systems and increased security of employment. But these vary with national context. Using transnational survey evidence, we explore the relative impact of setting, and of unions and collective bargaining, on these issues. We find that, irrespective of context organisations are significantly more likely to make usage of compulsory redundancies in the absence of unions and collective bargaining. However, in other areas, the impact of unions appeared less pronounced than that of the wider context. We explore the reasons behind this, and the broader policy implications thereof.