Unions and Efficient Firms Gain Power in Wage Bargaining
The paper explores how wage bargaining systems develop in industries where companies have significant market power. When firms and unions differ in productivity and bargaining strength, they tend to create various levels of centralization in wage negotiations. If more efficient firms and unions team up, they are likely to push for centralized wage bargaining. In cases where productivity gaps are large, efficient firms might handle bargaining on their own. But when differences even out, decentralized bargaining tends to stick around. This means that in sectors where firms have power, wage negotiations can become centralized, especially when the more productive firms and unions team up.