Strike frequency and industrial wage differentials : an econometric study of British production industries

Several econometric studies of strike incidence have been conducted recently for Great Britain. Most of this work has been based upon the theoretical bargaining model which relates the incidence of strikes to both the degree of worker discontent and the resistance displayed by employers to demands made by workers. All the previous studies using this type of model have emphasized the importance of the sluggish rate of advance in real income as the most important cause of greater worker discontent leading to increased strike frequency. Other important economic influences on strike frequency that have been emphasized are profits, productivity and unemployment. Strikes of course are the result of very complex social and political factors, as well as economic ones, however the aggregate results do suggest that an economic model can provide an important part of the explanation. Some tentative conclusions are: First, the use of hourly earnings rather than wage rates significantly improves the results from industry level strike equations. Second, further improvement is obtained by the use of relative wage variables