Technology, international competitiveness, and union behavior

Article Abstract:

Union opposition to a free trade agreement with Mexico affirms the conventional wisdom that international trade damages the union movement. This study uses data from the March and May CPS for 1984 to 1987 to investigate this issue for production workers. The results indicate that union wages are not influenced by greater trade at medium union densities. However, at low union densities, greater imports (exports) reduce (increase) wages with the opposite pattern occurring at high union densities. The union wage pattern is consistent with product market considerations playing a strong role at low union densities and end game considerations playing a strong role at high union densities. In general, nonunion wages are not significantly impacted by greater trade. After controlling for imports and exports, nonunion wages are much greater in internationally competitive industries while union wages are not significantly greater in competitive industries. Nonunion wages appear to be more influenced by efficiency wage considerations. Thus, a Mexican free trade agreement will have little influence on union wages and should increase nonunion wages. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Influence, Commercial treaties, Trade agreements, International competition (Commerce), International competition (Economics)

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Compensating payments and hazardous work in union and nonunion settings

Article Abstract:

Ths paper extends the results of past research on estimated compensating payments and estimated injury rate equations for the union and nonunion sectors. It allows for both simultaneity in the determination of income and safety and structural differences in their determinants across the two sectors. Although union settings are found to maintain larger compensating payments for hazardous work than nonunion settings, they also appear to contain higher injury rates, all else constant. A fuller understanding of these results will require further analysis of the differing institutional mechanisms for compensation and safety determination in union and nonunion labor markets. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Occupational health and safety, Occupational safety and health, Hazardous occupations

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Union wage premiums in an instrumental variables framework

Article Abstract:

A number of studies have used simultaneous-equations models, and the Inverse-Mills Ratio procedure in particular, to calculate union wage premiums. No study, however, has attempted to build up and extend results using an innovative instrumental variables (IV) model recently developed by Duncan and Leigh. This article fills this void by not only using the IV model to update Duncan and Leigh's estimates, but also computes union wage premiums for as many as 24 different groups of workers (as opposed to only five by Duncan and Leigh). IV estimates are also compared with results computed from the more traditional IMR and single-equation OLS models. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Instrumental variables (Statistics), Instrumental variables

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