HRM as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces

Posted: 4 Oct 2004

See all articles by Stephen J. Machin

Stephen J. Machin

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP); London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics

Stephen Wood

University of Sheffield - Institute of Work Psychology

Abstract

The authors use British workplace data for 1980-98 to examine whether increased human resource management (HRM) practices coincided with union decline, consistent with the hypothesis that such practices act as a substitute for unionization. Two initial analyses show no important differences between union and non-union sectors or between newer workplaces (which are likelier to be non-union) and older ones in the pattern of HRM practices over time; and the study's longitudinal analysis picks up no evidence of faster union decline in workplaces or industries that adopted HRM practices than in those that did not. Not only is the hypothesized substitution effect thus not supported, but the authors even uncover some evidence of a complementarity between unions and HRM practices. The authors conclude that increased use of HRM practices is probably not an important factor underpinning union decline in Britain.

Keywords: Human Resource Management, British trade unions

JEL Classification: J51, J53, M54

Suggested Citation

Machin, Stephen J. and Wood, Stephen J., HRM as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=598861

Stephen J. Machin (Contact Author)

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Stephen J. Wood

University of Sheffield - Institute of Work Psychology ( email )

Sheffield S10 2TN
United Kingdom
+44 20 114 222 23230 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
1,700
PlumX Metrics