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Unions, Training, and Firm Performance: Evidence from the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Addison, John T.

    (Durham University Business School)

  • Belfield, Clive R.

    (Queens College, CUNY)

Abstract
This paper uses a combination of workplace and matched-employee workplace data from the British 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey to examine the impact of unions and firm-provided training (incidence, intensity/coverage, and duration) on establishment performance. The performance effects of training are indexed not just by individual and median establishment earnings but also by subjective measures of plant labor productivity and financial performance. Union effects on training are fairly subtle, and somewhat more positive when using individual rather than plant-wide training data. A positive impact of training on earnings is also detected in both individual and plant-based wage data, although consistent with much recent research the effects of union recognition are at best muted. There are also some signs of a positive interaction term for unionism and training in the earnings equations, but by the same token negative effects are encountered when training duration is expressed in categorical terms and interacted with union recognition. Instrumenting training yielded positive results for labor productivity and the firm’s bottom line. While some negative effects of multiple unionism at the workplace now emerge, they seemingly do not operate through the training route.

Suggested Citation

  • Addison, John T. & Belfield, Clive R., 2004. "Unions, Training, and Firm Performance: Evidence from the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 1264, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1264
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp1264.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Ardiana N. Gashi & Geoff Pugh & Nick Adnett, 2010. "Technological change and employer‐provided training: evidence from UK workplaces," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(4), pages 426-448, July.
    2. Giulio Pedrini, 2020. "Off‐the‐job training and the shifting role of part‐time and temporary employment across institutional models. Comparing Italian and British firms," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 427-453, September.
    3. Alex Bryson & John Forth & Simon Kirby, 2005. "High‐Involvement Management Practices, Trade Union Representation And Workplace Performance In Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 451-491, July.
    4. Kim Hoque & Nicolas Bacon, 2008. "Trade Unions, Union Learning Representatives and Employer‐Provided Training in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 702-731, December.
    5. G. Guidetti & G. Pedrini, 2015. "Systemic flexibility and human capital development: the relationship between non-standard employment and workplace training," Working Papers wp1019, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    6. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2007. "HR Practices and Firm Performance: What Matters and Who Does It?," Occasional Papers 07/2, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    7. Fabling, Richard, 2007. "Just How Innovative are New Zealand Firms? Quantifying & Relating Organisational and Marketing Innovation to Traditional Science & Technology Indicators," Occasional Papers 07/4, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    earnings; intensity/coverage and duration; training incidence; employer-provided training; bargaining structure; union recognition; labor productivity; financial performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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