Union participation in economic policy making in France, Italy, Germany and Britain, 1970–1993

This study uses a specially‐developed measure of union participation in economic policy making to classify and compare the historical experiences of France, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany and Britain between 1970 and 1993 in order to present a clearer view of the variability of union participation in economic policy making in these countries over this period than has been available up to now. It is found that union participation was concentrated in certain areas of economic policy, in particular labour market policy, and that even high levels of participation were not necessarily linked to union agreement on wage restraint. Over the period as a whole, participation was highest in Italy and lowest in Britain and France, but varied considerably over time as well as between countries. These variations were clearly linked to whether the Left was included in the government of the day as well as to the nature of the national union movements.