European firm adjustment during times of economic crisis

Table 9 Collective bargaining and EPL strictness

	Collective bargaining coverage (%, employees)	Bargaining agreements, any level (%, firms)	Bargaining agreements, higher-level (%, firms)	Bargaining agreements, firm-level (%, firms)	OECD EPL strictness indicator^a
Austria	97.6	98.6	98.1	31.1	2.2
Belgium	89.0	99.3	97.9	33.2	2.5
Czech Republic	54.3	57.8	18.5	55.5	2.0
Estonia	11.7	14.1	5.6	11.2	2.3
France	67.4	99.9	97.8	57.6	2.9
Italy	97.3	99.7	99.6	42.5	2.4
Netherlands	65.1	74.3	47.4	26.8	2.1
Poland	18.1	21.3	4.0	19.5	2.2
Spain	96.9	100.0	85.8	14.2	3.0
Total	65.1	74.3	47.4	26.8	2.1
Euro area	86.4	96.4	90.1	37.3	2.6
Non-euro area	25.8	29.1	7.2	27.1	2.1

Sources: WDN surveys and OECD 2008. Note: OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. EPL = employment protection legislation. The table shows the share of employees in each country covered by collective bargaining (column 1) and the percentages of firms that apply collective bargaining contracts (columns 2–4); the figures are employment-weighted. a. The OECD scores countries annually on a scale of least (0) to most (6) regulatory strictness concerning the temporary contracts and worker protections from dismissal