Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• DiNardo, John
• Lee, David S.

Titel

Economic Impacts of New Unionization on Private Sector Employers: 1984–2001

Ist Teil von

• The Quarterly journal of economics, 2004-11, Vol.119 (4), p.1383-1441

Ort / Verlag

Oxford: MIT Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2004

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Social Sciences

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Economic impacts of unionization on employers are difficult to estimate in the absence of large, representative data on establishments with union status information. Estimates are also confounded by selection bias, because unions could organize at highly profitable enterprises that are more likely to grow and pay higher wages. Using multiple establishment-level data sets that represent establishments that faced organizing drives in the United States during 1984-1999, this paper uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of unionization on business survival, employment, output, productivity, and wages. Essentially, outcomes for employers where unions barely won the election (e.g., by one vote) are compared with those where the unions barely lost. The analysis finds small impacts on all outcomes that we examine; estimates for wages are close to zero. The evidence suggests that-at least in recent decades-the legal mandate that requires the employer to bargain with a certified union has had little economic impact on employers, because unions have been somewhat unsuccessful at securing significant wage gains.