Premium
An Industrial Relations Approach to the Free Rider Problem: Young People and Trade Union Membership in the UK
Author(s) -
Cregan Christina,
Johnston Stewart
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1990.tb00355.x
Subject(s) - trade union , institution , action (physics) , free rider problem , positive economics , social psychology , sociology , psychology , economics , political science , labour economics , microeconomics , social science , physics , quantum mechanics , public good
This is an investigation into the reasons for young people's union membership decisions in the UK. It is carried out by an examination of a survey of London sixteen‐year‐old school‐leavers (1979–80). The data are used in two ways. First, there is a comparative examination of a similar study based on the Bain‐Elsheikh propensity‐opportunity model. Second, the data are re‐examined to identify different and distinct strands of motivation or action, intrinsically and externally determined. These are related to formal theories from different disciplines which are linked together by the establishment of a definition of a trade union as a group, institution and social movement. The theory is extended to develop hypotheses about membership behaviour in general.