The Politics of Tripartite Cooperation in New Democracies: A Multi-level Analysis

Abstract

The literature on labor politics explains cooperation among unions, employers and state representatives in new democracies as a function of alliances between politically influential unions and left governments. This article introduces an original dataset of labor agreements in new democracies (1994—2004). Using Boolean analysis, it shows that while left governments are typically associated with more labor market regulation, they are not sufficient for social pacts to emerge in new democracies. Instead, protective labor market institutions and practices explain most instances of cooperation. Further analysis reveals this to be the case for all types of pacts analyzed.