Everything we do know (and don’t know) about collective bargaining: The Zeitgeist in the academic and political debate on the role and effects of collective bargaining

Abstract

This article provides an overview of academic and public policy debates on the role and effects of collective bargaining. The motivation behind this article is that the academic and political debate is – and ever was – characterized by many controversies. It is explained that these controversies often arise because of different disciplinary, theoretical and empirical approaches. It will also be outlined how the empirical and theoretical debates influenced the Zeitgeist in public policy making. Hence, the article provides an overview of the knowledge on the role and effects of collective bargaining as well as how this knowledge influenced and guided (or not) politically initiated institution building and reforms of collective bargaining systems.