Contracting Out in Japanese Local Government: Are Unions Making a Difference?
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8543.00190 |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Author | Seiichiro Hayakawa,François Simard |
Contracting Out in Japanese Lo cal
Government: Are Unions Making
aDifference?
Seiichiro Hayakawa and FrancË ois Simard
Abstract
Using 1997 data for Japanese cities, we examine the relationship between
union density and outsourcing in local government. We also test the hypothesis
that cities where employees are represented by the more radical of the two
local civil service unions will have less outsourcing than cities where the less
critically oriented union dominates. The results of the analysis support the
central hypothesis that union density is negatively correlated with outsourcing,
but they do not support the second hypothesis.
1. Introduction
A number of studies concerning the public sector have revealed the positive
influence of union density on salaries (Freeman 1986), earning equality (Asher
and DeFina 1997) and municipal employment (Zax 1989; Zax and Ichniowski
1988). However, little research has explicitly addressed the effect of union
density on the contracting out of public services.
We know that during the last 15 years, in many industrialized countries
outsourcing in local government has been growing rapidly and is widely
considered to be one of the most powerful management tools for increasing
organizationalefficiency (Boyne 1998; Domberger1998; Sakada 1996; Sharpe
1997). We also know that most unions are against outsourcing because, in
many cases, it represents a transfer from stable jobs with relatively high
wages and benefits to more precarious jobs with lower compensation and
relatively poor working conditions
1
(Sakada 1996: 189±90). Furthermore, it
`diffuses or diminishes' union membership (Perry 1997: 532) and `disrupts
the bargaining and organizing contexts in which unions operate' (Colling
1995: 135). Finally, we know that unionization has a positive effect on public
employment, and that union influence on public policy can be significant
Seiichiro Hayakawa and FrancËois Simard are both at Hosei University, Tokyo.
British Journal of Industrial Relations
39:1 March 2001 0007±1080 pp. 81±95
#Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2001. Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd,
108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
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