The union default
Free‐riding solutions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21334580 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark Harcourt (0000-0002-7517-9266, Department of Strategy and HRM, Waikato Management School University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand), Gregor Gall (0000-0003-4649-9751, CERIC, Leeds University Business School University of Leeds Leeds UK, corresponding author), Margaret Wilson (0009-0008-7907-4104, Faculty of Law University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 267-284 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Industrial Relations Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0019-8692 • E-ISSN: 1468-2338 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/irj.12426 |
| OpenAlex | W4392197739 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 36 |
A union default would empower unions to extend membership and representation to nonunion employers but still allow workers to opt‐out and, thereby, free‐ride. Though most workers would retain membership, free‐riding could still undermine a default. First, propensity to maintain membership is likely to vary, leaving some sectors with too few members for viable, effective representation. Second, public goods research suggests free‐riding increases over time when already extant. Third, expectations of widespread future free‐riding could discourage workers from recruiting the minimum number of workers necessary to attain the default. We test two solutions—all employees being required to pay union fees or employers paying union fees—to these challenges, examining effects on intention to retain membership and support for a default. We find both have positive impacts upon reducing free‐riding
Business · Default · Economics · Extant taxon · Free rider problem · Free riding · Incentive · Labour economics · Microeconomics · Political science · Public good · Representation (politics) · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · Finance · Labor Movements and Unions · Law
Social Preferences, Beliefs, and the Dynamics of Free Riding in Public Goods Experiments
Thinking as a Team
Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment
Unions, Norms, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality
The Logic of Collective Action
What Unions Do for Regulation
Trade union decline, deindustrialization, and rising income inequality in the United States, 1947 to 2015
A Theory of Social Interactions
Union Density Effects on Productivity and Wages
The Effect of Unions on Wage Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market
Labor Unions, Political Representation, and Economic Inequality
Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century
Workplace Compensation Practices and the Rise in Benefit Inequality
Individual unionization decisions
Labor Unions and American Poverty
Social Customs and Trade Union Membership
Cooperation in Context
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |