[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/316.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Ten Years of Mrs. T

Author

Listed:
  • Bean, Charles R
  • Symons, James
Abstract
We argue that the 1970s were characterized by attempts to maintain a cooperative, low unemployment equilibrium in the face of considerable union power, through use of incomes policies and neo-corporatist machinery. The 1980s saw a shift away from this, towards direct measures to limit union power. This, together with the adoption of tight macroeconomic policies, explains the initial rise in unemployment. The reduction in union power also helps to explain the acceleration in productivity growth. The craft nature of much of the British union movement has led to a multiplication of bargaining units wihin firms. Bargaining in isolation a union can perceive overmanning and other restrictive practices as being in its intrests, resulting in low wages and productivity. A fall in union power results in a reduction in these inefficiencies and leads not only to a rise in productivity but also in wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Bean, Charles R & Symons, James, 1989. "Ten Years of Mrs. T," CEPR Discussion Papers 316, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:316
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=316
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Minford, Patrick & Ashton, Paul, 1991. "The Poverty Trap and the Laffer Curve--What Can the GHS Tell Us?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 245-279, April.
    2. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1985. "Portfolio Crowding-Out, Empirically Estimated," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(Supplemen), pages 1041-1065.
    3. Thomas J. Sargent & Neil Wallace, 1984. "Some Unpleasant Monetarist Arithmetic," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Brian Griffiths & Geoffrey E. Wood (ed.), Monetarism in the United Kingdom, pages 15-41, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Kiyotaki, Nobuhiro, 1987. "Monopolistic Competition and the Effects of Aggregate Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 647-666, September.
    5. Lindbeck, Assar & Snower, Dennis J, 1988. "Cooperation, Harassment, and Involuntary Unemployment: An Insider-Outsider Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 167-188, March.
    6. S.J. Prais & Karin Wagner, 1988. "Productivity and Management: the Training of Foremen in Britain and Germany," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 123(1), pages 34-46, February.
    7. Gottfries, Nils & Horn, Henrik, 1987. "Wage Formation and the Persistence of Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(388), pages 877-884, December.
    8. Olivier J. Blanchard & Lawrence H. Summers, 1986. "Hysteresis and the European Unemployment Problem," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1986, Volume 1, pages 15-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Blanchard, Olivier J. & Summers, Lawrence H., 1987. "Hysteresis in unemployment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 288-295.
    10. Hilary Steedman & Karin Wagner, 1987. "A Second Look At Productivity, Machinery and Skills in Britain and Germany," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 122(1), pages 84-108, November.
    11. Bean, C. & Gavosto, A., 1989. "Outsiders, Capacity Shortages And Unemployment In The United Kingdom," Papers 332, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
    12. S.J. Prais, 1981. "The Evolution of Giant Firms in Britrain (2nd Impression)," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 97(1), pages 83-83, August.
    13. Jackman, R & Roper, S, 1987. "Structural Unemployment," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 49(1), pages 9-36, February.
    14. A. Daly & D.M.W.N. Hitchens & K. Wagner, 1985. "Productivity, Machinery and Skills in a Sample of British and German Manufacturing Plants," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 111(1), pages 48-61, February.
    15. Budd, Alan & Levine, Paul & Smith, Peter, 1987. "Long-term unemployment and the shifting U-V curve : A multi-country study," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 296-305.
    16. Metcalf, D., 1988. "Water Notes Dry Up," Papers 314, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
    17. Wadhwani, Sushil & Wall, Martin, 1986. "The UK Capital Stock--New Estimates of Premature Scrapping," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 2(3), pages 44-55, Autumn.
    18. William H. Buiter & Marcus Miller, 1981. "The Thatcher Experiment: The First Two Years," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 12(2), pages 315-380.
    19. repec:sae:niesru:v:126:y::i:1:p:57-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Oswald, Andrew J & Turnbull, Peter J, 1985. "Pay and Employment Determination in Britain: What Are Labour," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 80-97, Summer.
    21. Willem H. Buiter & Marcus Miller, 1983. "Changing the Rules: Economic Consequences of the Thatcher Regime," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 14(2), pages 305-380.
    22. Newell, A. & Symons, J., 1989. "The Passing Of The Golden Age," Papers 347, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
    23. Robert E. Hall, 1986. "Market Structure and Macroeconomic Fluctuations," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 17(2), pages 285-338.
    24. Michael Bruno & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1985. "Economics of Worldwide Stagflation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number brun85-1.
    25. Newell, A. & Symons, J. S. V., 1987. "Corporatism, laissez-faire and the rise in unemployment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 567-601, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kevin Denny, 1997. "Productivity and trade unions in British manufacturing industry 1973-85," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(10), pages 1403-1409.
    2. Nelson, Edward, 2017. "Reaffirming the Influence of Milton Friedman on U.K. Economic Policy," Working Papers 2017-01, University of Sydney, School of Economics, revised Feb 2017.
    3. Nauro F Campos & Fabrizio Coricelli, 2017. "EU Membership, Mrs Thatcher’s Reforms and Britain’s Economic Decline," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(2), pages 169-193, June.
    4. James Pemberton, 2004. "Ricardian Consumers With Non‐Keynesian (And Possibly Ricardian) Propensities," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(1), pages 95-104, February.
    5. Manfred Keil & Louis Pantuosco, 1998. "Canadian and US Unemployment Rates: A Comparison Based on Regional Data," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 38-55, February.
    6. Nelson, Edward, 2001. "What Does the UK's Monetary Policy and Inflation Experience Tell Us About the Transmission Mechanism?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3047, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Gianluigi Pelloni & Wolfgang Polasek, 2003. "Macroeconomic Effects of Sectoral Shocks in Germany, The U.K. and, The U.S. A VAR-GARCH-M Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 21(1), pages 65-85, February.
    8. Rachel Griffith & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Characteristics of Foreign-Owned Firms in British Manufacturing," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 147-180, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Lynde, Catherine & Richmond, J., 1998. "Productivity and efficiency in the UK: a time series application of DEA," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 105-122, January.
    10. Paul Beaudry & Mustafa Caglayan & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2001. "Monetary Instability, the Predictability of Prices, and the Allocation of Investment: An Empirical Investigation Using U.K. Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 648-662, June.
    11. Erik Britton & Jens D J Larsen & Ian Small, 2000. "Imperfect competition and the dynamics of mark-ups," Bank of England working papers 110, Bank of England.
    12. Nelson, Edward & Nikolov, Kalin, 2003. "UK inflation in the 1970s and 1980s: the role of output gap mismeasurement," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 353-370.
    13. Charles R. Bean, 2019. "A Review Essay: David Kynaston's Till Time's Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England, 1694–2013," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(4), pages 972-987, December.
    14. Ian Small, 1997. "The cyclicality of Mark-ups and Profit Margins: Some Evidence for Manufacturing and Services," Bank of England working papers 72, Bank of England.
    15. Manfred Keil & Andrew Newell, 1993. "Internal migration and unemployment in Germany: An anglo-irish perspective," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 129(3), pages 514-536, September.
    16. Nicholas Crafts & Mary O'Mahony, 2001. "A perspective on UK productivity performance," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 271-306, September.
    17. Mills, Terence C. & Pelloni, Gianluigi & Zervoyianni, Athina, 1996. "Cyclical unemployment and sectoral shifts: Further tests of the Lilien hypothesis for the UK," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 55-60, July.
    18. Nigel M. Healey, 1992. "The Thatcher Supply-Side ‘Miracle’: Myth or Reality?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 36(1), pages 7-12, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Springer, K.A., 1989. "Wage rigidity and the persistence of unemployment," Serie Research Memoranda 0041, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    2. Blanchflower, D. & Oswald, A. & Garrett, M., 1988. "Insider Power In Wage Determination," Papers 319, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
    3. Carlsson, Mikael & Eriksson, Stefan & Gottfries, Nils, 2006. "Testing Theories of Job Creation: Does Supply Create Its Own Demand?," Working Paper Series 194, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    4. Paqué, Karl-Heinz, 1989. "Wage gaps, hysteresis and structural unemployment: The West German labour market in the seventies and eighties," Kiel Working Papers 358, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Aidt, T.S. & Tzannatos, Z., 2005. "The Cost and Benefits of Collective Bargaining," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0541, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Gilles Saint-Paul, 2004. "Why are European Countries Diverging in their Unemployment Experience?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 49-68, Fall.
    7. van de Klundert, T.C.M.J. & van Schaik, A.B.T.M., 1989. "Unemployment persistence and loss of productive capacity : A Keynesian approach," Other publications TiSEM c0b1af87-3e70-4128-8c48-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Dinand Webbink & Pierre Koning & Sunčica Vujić & Nicholas G. Martin, 2013. "Why Are Criminals Less Educated than Non-Criminals? Evidence from a Cohort of Young Australian Twins," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 115-144, February.
    9. Ron Smith & Gylfi Zoega, 2004. "Global Shocks and Unemployment Adjustment," Economics wp24_smith, Department of Economics, Central bank of Iceland.
    10. Blanchflower, David G, 1991. "Fear, Unemployment and Pay Flexibility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(406), pages 483-496, May.
    11. Moller, Joachim, 1990. "Unemployment and Deterioration of Human Capital: A Labour Market Model with Hysteresis Implications," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 199-215.
    12. van de Klundert, Theo C. M. J. & van Schaik, Anton B. T. M., 1990. "Unemployment persistence and loss of productive capacity: A Keynesian approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 363-380.
    13. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and macroeconomics," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 373-383.
    14. Paul Grauwe, 1990. "The cost of disinflation and the European Monetary System," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 147-173, June.
    15. Paqué, Karl-Heinz, 1990. "Unemployment in West Germany: A survey of explanations and policy options," Kiel Working Papers 407, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Salvatore D'Acunto, 2003. "Efficienza microeconomica versus efficienza "sistemica"? Note in margine al Libro Bianco del Ministero del Lavoro," Stato e mercato, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 287-312.
    17. Blanchard, Olivier Jean, 1991. "Wage Bargaining and Unemployment Persistence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 23(3), pages 277-292, August.
    18. Gottfries, Nils & Westermark, Andreas, 1998. "Nominal wage contracts and the persistent effects of monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 207-223, February.
    19. Leyla BAŞTAV, 2019. "ABD İşgücü Piyasasında Histeresi Etkisi Üzerine Ampirik Bir Çalışma: Yeni Keynesyen Ücret Phillips Eğrisi (1990-2014)," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society.
    20. Marco Guerrazzi, 2020. "Wage and employment determination in a dynamic insider–outsider model," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:316. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.