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Trade Unionists in Parliament and Macroeconomic Performance: Evidence from Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Michael Berlemann  and
Klaus W. Zimmermann
Michael Berlemann
Affiliation:
Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg
Klaus W. Zimmermann
Affiliation:
Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg
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Abstract

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This article focuses on the role of unionised members of parliament. While unions have a direct effect on the labour market via wage negotiations, they often also take part in political debates. In many countries, significant shares of the members of parliament are also members of a trade union. However, up to now little empirical evidence is available on the extent to which unionised members of parliament try to achieve union-specific goals and thereby influence the macroeconomic conditions of an economy. A recent study for Germany comes to the conclusion that union members in the Bundestag cannot be seen as the parliamentary arm of the trade unions. However, we present contradicting empirical results by showing that, in Germany at least, the degree of unionisation of parliamentary members has a negative impact on economic growth and increases inflation, while unemployment remains unaffected.

Keywords

B22J51Growthinflationpolitical representationtrade unionsunemployment
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 22 , Issue 3: Australia's Transfer and Tax System Under Review , November 2011 , pp. 101 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011

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