Trade unions and occupational health and safety [Elektronische Ressource] / presented by Alejandro Donado Gomez

.Trade Unions and OccupationalHealth and SafetyA dissertation presentedbyAlejandro Donado Gomeztothe Department of Economics and Business Administrationin partial ful?lment of the requirementsfor the degree ofDoktor der WirtschaftswissenschaftenJulius-Maximilians-Universit t W rzburgW rzburg, GermanyApril 2011.Thesis supervisor:Prof. Dr. Klaus W?ldeThesis supervisor: Author:Prof. Dr. Klaus W lde Alejandro Donado GomezTrade Unions and Occupational Health and SafetyAbstractThis thesis comprises three essays that study the impact of trade unions on occupationalhealth and safety (OHS). The ?rst essay proposes a theoretical model that highlights the crucialrole that unions have played throughout history in making workplaces safer. Firms traditionallyoppose better health standards. Workplace safety is costly for ?rms but increases the averagehealthofworkersandtherebytheaggregatelaboursupply. Alaissez-faireapproachinwhich?rmsset safety standards is suboptimal as workers are not fully informed of health risks associatedwith their jobs. Safety standards set by better-informed trade unions are output and welfareincreasing.The second essay extends the model to a two-country world consisting of the capital-rich"North"andthecapital-poor"South". TheNorthhastradeunionsthatsethighOHSstandards.TherearenounionsintheSouthandOHSstandardsarelow.