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Tobias Karlsson . Photo

Tobias Karlsson

Director of first and second cycle studies, Department of Economic History, Senior lecturer

Tobias Karlsson . Photo

The Power Resource Theory Revisited: What Explains the Decline in Industrial Conflicts in Sweden?

Author

  • Kerstin Enflo
  • Tobias Karlsson
  • Jakob Molinder

Summary, in English

This paper revisits the Power Resource Theory by testing one of its more influential claims: the relation between the strength of the labor movement and the reduction of industrial conflicts. Using panel data techniques to analyze more than 2,000 strikes in 103 Swedish towns we test whether a shift in the balance of power towards Social Democratic rule was associated with fewer strikes. The focus is on the formative years between the first general election in 1919 and the famous Saltsjöbaden Agreement in 1938, the period when Sweden went from a country of fierce labor conflicts to a state of industrial peace. The spatial dimension provides new possibilities to test the theory. We find that Social Democratic power reduced strike activity, but only in towns where union presence was strong. Powerful unions in themselves did not reduce local strike activity. On the contrary, we find that the rise of the Social Democratic Party in municipal governments offset about 45 percent of the estimated effect of growing union presence on industrial conflicts. We do not see any significant tangible concessions in terms of increased social spending by local governments after a left-wing victory as predicted by Power Resource Theory. Instead the mechanism leading to fewer strikes appears to be related to corporatist explanations.

Department/s

  • Department of Economic History
  • Centre for Economic Demography

Publishing year

2018-08-22

Language

English

Pages

1-27

Publication/Series

Discussion Paper series

Volume

DP13130

Issue

DP13130

Document type

Working paper

Publisher

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Topic

  • Economic History

Keywords

  • Industrial Conflicts, Local Labor Markets, Power Resource Theory, Strikes

Status

Published

Project

  • Labour Conflicts by location 1859–1938
  • From Sundsvall to Saltsjöbaden: A regional perspective on strikes at the Swedish labor market