Magnus Rasmussen, University of South Eastern Norway

"With a Little Help from My Friends: Working Class Representation Class Conflict in Early 20th Century Norway"

Abstract

This paper investigates the causal relationship between working class political representation and collective bargaining in Norway from 1904 to 1938. Employing a novel research design involving tied municipal elections resolved by lotteries, we estimate the causal effect of socialist mayors on strike propensity and wage gains in collective bargaining. This natural experiment helps mitigate the endogeneity issues that have hindered all prior studies on labor militancy and political working-class representation. Moreover, we provide insights into the mechanisms underlying the decline in strike activity, contrasting it with existing theories suggesting strike reductions result from union wage-moderation, with a political power model in which union demands increase under socialist mayors and employers accept these demands. Using novel micro collective agreements data, we find that declines in strikes is accompanied with agreements increasing workers’ wages under socialist mayors. These findings support our argument that employers, recognizing the increased bargaining power of unions under socialist governance, concede to higher wages without the need for conflict. Working class political representation therefore reduces class conflict.

Joint with Anders Kjelsrud, Karl Moene, Andreas Kotsadam, Haakon Gjerløw, and Øyvind S. Skorge.

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Contact person: Casper Worm Hansen