The early institutionalists on industrial democracy and union democracy

Article Abstract:

Issues discussed concern trade unionism, democracy and bargaining power in America, focusing on the views of the institutional economists towards the labor movement in the early 1900s. Topics addressed include the institutional school of labor economics and their philosophy concerning the economic and political purpose of labor unions.

United States, Labor economics, Criticism and interpretation, Economists

---

Labor's inequality of bargaining power: changes over time and implications for public policy

Article Abstract:

A major justification for enacting the Wagner Act and encouraging collective bargaining was that in the wage-determination process individual workers suffer from an inequality of bargaining power vis-a-vis employers. This critical review of this justification examines the analytical meaning of the concept of an inequality of bargaining power, the factors responsible for this inequality, the change that has taken place in labor's disadvantage since the 1930's, and the implications for national labor policy. It is concluded that some employers continue to have significant market power over wages but that the extent and degree of labor's disadvantage in bargaining has diminished substantially since World War II. The implication is that the Wagner Act's protection of the right to organize remains in the social interest but that the bargaining power of labor unions should be further circumscribed to preserve a balance of power in wage determination. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Interpretation and construction, Laws, regulations and rules, Labor law, Collective bargaining, Working class

---

Countercyclical union wage premium? Evidence for the 1980s

Article Abstract:

Empirical results based on pooled male data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics indicate an overall wage premium of about 11.92 percent for the 1980s. In response to fluctuations in labor local market conditions, proxied by the local unemployment rate, a much more flexible wage-setting process is found in the nonunion sector relative to the union sector. The long-term effect of unemployment on nonunion real wages suggest an approximate 0.6 percent decline for every one percentage point increase in unemployment, a statistically significant reduction, but the long-term effect of unemployment on real wages of union members is negligible. The union wage premium ranges between 11.6 to 12.3 percent for the sample years. Even though union wages are insensitive to short-run fluctuations in local labor market conditions, and are somewhat countercyclical in nature, widespread union wage concessions which occurred during the 1980s may now be exerting a downward pressure on union wages. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Labor market, Wages, Wages and salaries, Business cycles

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: The indivisibility of risk - the management of employee benefits and care for the elderly. Health care benefits in Egypt
• Abstracts: A day in the life of an occupational physician. Dying for information. Emergency services
• Abstracts: Computer based training. Fight or flight

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.