Unionism and Economic Performance

[FreakinDJ]

Unionism and Economic Performance

How do union membership levels affect a country's economic competitiveness? Is there a general pattern? We have compared data from the World Economic Forum's last two Global Competitiveness Reports* alongside data on global union membership density. The results for both years told the same story. The higher a country's union membership is, the more economically competitive it is likely to be.

For 2007 we had union membership data for 47 of the 50 most competitive economies (according to the GCR ranking). The top 5 economies have an average union membership density of 43%. Now watch what happens... The top 10 have an average of 38%. The top 20 have an average of 34%. The top 30 average is 31%. The top 40 average is 30%. The top 50 have an average of 29%. The pattern could hardly be clearer, could it?

For 2006 we found that the top 10 had an average of 37.9%. The top 20 had an average of 37.8%. The top 30 rate was 33%. And the top 40 had an average of 27.3. The pattern is tighter, but it tells essentially the same story.

http://www.newunionism.net/library/member%20contributions/news/Unionism%20and%20Economic%20Performance.htm

Germany 20%
Japan 18.7%