The inadequacy of mainstream theories of trade union behaviour

Fleetwood, Steve

Abstract

This paper identifies four criteria used by mainstream economists of trade unions to judge the adequacy of their various theories. Three of them, however, are hardly ever satisfied. The root cause of this failure is the method adopted by mainstream economic theory, namely deductivism. The perspective of critical realism is used to identify and explain the cause of this failure and to point towards an alternative method.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 1999
• Deposit Date: Nov 9, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2016
• Journal: Labour
• Print ISSN: 1121-7081
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9914
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 445-480
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9914.00103
• Keywords: trade unions
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1098122
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9914.00103
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Fleetwood, S. (1999) The inadequacy of mainstream theories of trade unions. Labour, 21 (6). pp. 445-480, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9914.00103. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving
• Contract Date: Oct 18, 2016