Helena Bach

Economist for Wage Policy and Collective Bargaining

Tel: +49 221 4981-665 Mail: bach@iwkoeln.de

At the IW since 2017
Bachelor studies in political science and economics at the University of Mainz and the University of Kristiansand (Norway), master studies in labor market and human resources at the University of Nuremberg
Research interests: Collective bargaining autonomy, collective bargaining coverage, pay equity.

Topics

Labor and Income

Research unit

Labour Economics and Collective Bargaining Policy

IW Publications

Bach, Helena / Fulda, Carolin Denise / Vogel, Sandra, 2024, Das Für und Wider einer Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft, in: IW-Trends, 51. Jg., Nr. 1, S. 117–138
Zur Studie

Bach, Helena / Hammermann, Andrea, 2023, Zahlen tarifgebundene Unternehmen besser? Eine Analyse der Verdienste tarifgebundener und ungebundener Beschäftigter auf Basis des SOEP, in: IW-Trends, 50. Jg., Nr. 4, S. 117-135
Zur Studie

Lesch, Hagen / Bach, Helena / Vogel, Sandra, 2023, Tarifautonomie in der Legitimitätskrise? Eine Analyse historischer Daten, IW-Policy Paper, Nr. 11, Köln
Zur Studie

Bach, Helena / Lesch, Hagen / Vogel, Sandra, 2022, Die Legitimität der Tarifautonomie in Deutschland. Wirtschaftspolitische Lehren aus historischen Debatten von 1918 bis heute, IW-Analyse, Nr. 148, Köln
Zur Studie

Lesch, Hagen / Schneider, Helena / Schröder, Christoph, 2021, Mindestlohnanpassung und Living Wage. Was kann Deutschland von Frankreich und dem Vereinigten Königreich lernen?, IW-Analyse, Nr. 145, Köln
Zur Studie

Schneider, Helena, 2021, Flexibilität des M+E-Flächentarifvertrags. Ergänzungstarifverträge als Allheilmittel?, in: IW-Trends, 48. Jg., Nr. 2, S. 69-84
Zur Studie

Schneider, Helena / Stettes, Oliver / Vogel, Sandra, 2019, Betriebliche Arbeitsbeziehungen und Transformationsprozesse. Eine empirische Analyse auf Basis des IW-Personalpanels, in: IW-Trends, 2019, Nr. 3
Zur Studie

(in cooperation with Hagen Lesch, Sandra Vogel)
Einstellung zur Tarifbindung in der Metall- und Elektro-Industrie – Ergebnisse einer Unternehmensbefragung
IW-Trends 1/2019

Gewerkschaften – Ja bitte, aber ohne mich!
IW-Kurzbericht 80/2018

(in cooperation with Sandra Vogel)
Tarifbindung der Beschäftigten in Deutschland – Eine Auswertung des Sozioökonomischen Panels
IW-Report 15/2018

Wahrgenommene Lohngerechtigkeit in Deutschland
IW policy papers 3/2018

Expertises

(in cooperation with Paula Hellmich, Hagen Lesch, Christoph Schröder, Sandra Vogel)
Statistische Eckdaten: Einflussfaktoren Tarifbindung (1918-2017), Köln
Gutachten für Gesamtmetall, 2018

External Publications

(in cooperation with Hagen Lesch, Sandra Vogel)
Rückzug aus der Flächentarifbindung: Empirischer Forschungsstand und Implikationen für eine Stabilisierung des Tarifsystems
Sozialer Fortschritt, 67. Jg., Nr. 10, 2018, S. 867–886

Wahrgenommene Lohngerechtigkeit in Deutschland Leistung, Bedarf, Chancengerechtigkeit – Worauf basieren gerechte Löhne?
List Forum für Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik, Heft 3, 2018, S. 357–378

More from Helena Bach

IW-Trends No. 1 12. March 2024

The Pros and Cons of Trade Union Membership

Helena Bach / Carolin Fulda / Sandra Vogel

The decline in collective bargaining coverage in Germany is often attributed to the reluctance of companies to join an employers' association which negotiates collective agreements.

IW-Trends No. 4 29. December 2023

Do Companies Bound by Collective Agreements Pay Better?

Helena Bach/Andrea Hammermann

When discussing the gradual erosion of collective bargaining coverage, reference is often made to the importance of collective agreements in securing high salaries for employees.

IW-Policy Paper No. 11 8. December 2023

Collective bargaining autonomy in a crisis of legitimacy?

Hagen Lesch / Helena Bach / Sandra Vogel

In Germany, the employers recognised the trade unions as the appointed representatives of the employees in November 1918.

IW-Analyse No. 148 31. March 2022

The Legitimacy of Free Collective Bargaining in Germany

Helena Bach / Hagen Lesch / Sandra Vogel

Since the signing of the Stinnes-Legien Agreement in 1918, the collective bargaining autonomy of Germany’s employers’ associations and trade unions has been the subject of continual political debate and at times its legitimacy even called into question.

IW-Analyse No. 145 20. October 2021

Minimum Wage Adjustment and a Living Wage in Germany

Hagen Lesch / Helena Schneider / Christoph Schröder

Germany’s Minimum Wage Act accords a Minimum Wage Commission the task of deciding on a biennial adjustment to the minimum wage. While including an overall assessment, their decision is to be oriented on the development of collective wages.

IW-Trends No. 2 29. June 2021

Achieving Flexibility Within Collective Bargaining in the Metal and Electrical Industry

Helena Schneider

Companies which are bound by sector-level collective agreements in the metal and electrical industry yet are keen to invest or to protect jobs in times of economic difficulty can negotiate supplementary agreements allowing them to deviate temporarily from the provisions of the sectoral agreements.

IW-Trends No. 3 31. October 2019

Industrial Relations and Transformation Processes

Helena Schneider / Oliver Stettes / Sandra Vogel

As digitalisation of the economy and society as a whole progresses, fears have been expressed that this rapid and sometimes disruptive technological change might prevent works councils from adequately representing employees and their concerns to management.

IW-Trends No. 1 20. March 2019

Results of a Company Survey: Attitudes Towards Binding Collective Bargaining in the Metal and Electrical Industry

Hagen Lesch / Helena Schneider / Sandra Vogel

A survey of 1,553 companies in the metal and electrical industry about their attitude to binding collective bargaining shows that two thirds of these firms are satisfied with their binding sector-level agreements.