Determinants of Social Dialogue in European Countries (1980–2018)

This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the political and structural determinants of social dialogue in 25 European countries between 1980 and 2018 using a measure of social dialogue based on an original survey of industrial relations and social policy experts. We assess hypotheses on the role of structural (unionisation, employer organisation) and political (government partisanship, government strength) factors on the extent of cooperation between governments, trade unions and employers in public policymaking. We find a declining trend in the overall extent of social dialogue in the countries surveyed. Using panel regressions, we show that higher levels of social dialogue are more prevalent among governments where there is a balance of power between right-wing and left-wing parties, and thus where unions and employers can act as ‘brokers’ between left and right parties. We find no association between most structural factors (unionisation, collective bargaining coverage, employer organisation) and levels of social dialogue.