Midlands State University Library

Social capital, "Ghent" and workplace contexts matter: comparing union membership in Europe/

Ebbinghaus, Bernhard

Social capital, "Ghent" and workplace contexts matter: comparing union membership in Europe/ created by Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Claudia Göbel and Sebastian Koos - European journal of industrial relations Volume 17, number 2 .

Union density still varies considerably across Europe. This cross-national diversity has inspired multiple explanations ranging from institutional to workplace or socio-demographic factors. In this comparative multilevel analysis, we combine personal, workplace and macro-institutional explanations of union membership using the European Social Survey. By controlling for individual factors, we test the cross-national effect of meso- and macro-level variables, in particular workplace representation, establishment size, Ghent unemployment insurance and a society’s social capital. We conclude that all these institutional and social contextual factors matter in explaining differences in union membership.


Social capital--Union membership--EU countries--Trade union

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