Pensions and the uses of ignorance by unions and firms

Article Abstract:

Pensions are contingent claims contracts that are often fashioned by collective bargaining under conditions of asymmetric information and market power. Pensions are not an employer's or a union's optimal contract; they represent compromise. Employers use pensions to minimize labor costs and to adjust to market changes. Pensions help unions improve and protect their members' work lives and help unions to survive as institutions. When workers' estimations of their pensions differ from their employers' estimations a moral hazard can exist. Less mobile workers and those with less influence subsidize the pension benefits of other workers or reduce an employer's costs. Econometric results based on data from the President's Commission on Pension Policy show that certain workers, namely women, overvalue their plans, which provides an opportunity to lower labor costs and redistribute benefits. Unions have a contradictory effect on information. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Pensions

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Equity market response to union decertification petitions and elections

Article Abstract:

The effect of union decertification elections on the valuation of corporations is examined using a standard event study methodology. Cumulative abnormal daily common stock returns for 203 NYSE and AMEX listed firms are estimated for the day on which a petition for a decertification election is filed and for the day on which the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certifies the decertification election outcome. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that successful union decertifications increase firm valuation and unsuccessful ones reduce firm valuation. The primary carrier of valuation information is the date the NLRB confirms the decertification election results. The petition file date yields little, if any, information about the firm's capitalization. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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The community as a source of union power

Article Abstract:

In recent years, the labor movement has expressed interest in using the community as a source of union power in dealing with employers. This paper explores labor's historical relationship with the community, examines the emphasis on more effective uses of the community in core union activities, identifies the communities with which labor aligns itself in coalitions, and discusses the strategies employed to form alliances with community groups. Finally, an analysis of some of the key barriers and limitations that affect prospects of the formation and effectiveness of union-community coalitions is presented. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Analysis, Employment, Community organization

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