UNIONIZATION AND LABOR-MARKET INSTITUTIONS IN ADVANCED CAPITALISM, 1950-1985

This article examines the dependence of unionization on labor market institutions and long-run trends in inflation, unemployment, and the sectoral composition of the labor force in 18 OECD countries. The large number of contending explanations highlights the difficulty in comparative sociology of drawing confident conclusions when there are few cases to compare. This problem is addressed through diverse evidence-a review of the comparative historical record and a time-series analysis-to form a Bayesian prior distribution, which is combined with a cross-sectional data set to sharpen conventional estimates of economic and institutional effects. This analysis indicates working-class organization in trade unions expanded in the postwar period where labor acquired an institutional influence over capitalist labor markets.