O poder dos sindicatos e a lucratividade das firmas no Reino Unido

In t-his paper an attempt is made to assess the behaviour of the rate of return on sales of unionised firms as compared to the non-unionised ones in the late 1980s in the U.K. The main aim is to examine what has happened to the rela.LluH.51úp ~o::;~w=1L ul~uuisation anel }Jfolltauiiüy after the changes in the union legislation, competition environrnent and cyclical variations that took place over this period. The impact of different forms of union-firm bargaining on the union-profitability effect is also examined. The data reveal that the negative union effect on profitability exists, even after controlling for firm specific fixed effects, that it is larger where unions negotiate jointly with the firm as part of industry leveI bargaining, but that it has been sharply reduced over the 1980s.