Strikes in British Coal Mining, 1893–1940: Testing Models of Strikes

Unlike earlier studies, which focus on one model, I use data on British coal mining strikes to test several models of strikes, for example, the war-of-attrition, one-sided asymmetric information and joint costs models as well as the safety valve hypothesis, which is related to “forest fire” models of strikes. I determine whether the data and estimates are compatible with these models as well as how observers in retrospective and contemporary accounts viewed these strikes. I find that the empirical and narrative evidence is supportive of the safety valve hypothesis, but is often at odds with the other (more commonly used) models.