This paper studies corporatism as the outcome of bargaining between the government and a representative labour union. We show that if negotiations between these two parties only relate to macroeconomic policies and unions are not assumed to be inflation-averse, corporatism can never be beneficial to both parties. As corporatist policies are nevertheless commonly observed in this context, we discuss possible explanations that reconcile the theory with actual observations. The policy implications of these explanations are also discussed.