Time of Globalization: Union Density and Labour Market Flexibility

This paper explores the relationship between globalization and the decline in union density, as well as analysing the relation between these two variables conditioned on labour market flexibility. The argument is that globalization affected the decline in union density and that the effects of this mechanism might vary due to labour market flexibility. Labour market flexibility that includes increased uncertainty of job positions and more flexible employment contracts made it harder for labour to organize successfully. By applying OLS regression I came up with the results that globalization negatively affects union density, but this relationship is mitigated by the lower level of labour market flexibility. The structure of the paper proceeds as follows: in the first part I revise existing literature and offer a theoretical framework. The next part relates to methodology and empirical approach. The last part consists of a discussion, limitations and concluding remarks