Who are the Workers Who Never Joined a Union? Empirical Evidence from Germany

18 Pages Posted: 21 Jul 2005

See all articles by Claus Schnabel

Claus Schnabel

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Joachim Wagner

University of Lueneburg - Institute of Economics; Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Max Planck Institute for Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: July 2005

Abstract

Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union never-membership in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in Germany have never been members of a trade union. Individuals' probability of never-membership is significantly affected by their personal characteristics (in particular age, education and status at work), their political orientation and (to a lesser degree) their family background, and by broad location. In addition, occupational and workplace characteristics play a significant role. Most important in this regard is the presence of a union at the workplace.

Keywords: union membership, never-membership, Germany

JEL Classification: J51

Suggested Citation

Schnabel, Claus and Wagner, Joachim, Who are the Workers Who Never Joined a Union? Empirical Evidence from Germany (July 2005). IZA Discussion Paper No. 1658, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=760727 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.760727

Claus Schnabel

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg ( email )

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Joachim Wagner (Contact Author)

University of Lueneburg - Institute of Economics ( email )

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