The relative effect of unionization and interjurisdictional competition on municipal wages

Article Abstract:

The effects of the amount of intergovernmental competition on municipal employee wage levels is examined. A bureaucracy model is used to analyze the impact of product market conditions on local wage determination by government decision makers. Results of empirical tests of the relationship between measures of market competition and wages for three categories of municipal employees suggest that monopoly in the product market has an important effect on a community's ability and willingness to pay wages above opportunity cost. A legal environment that fosters annexation and restricts incorporation of new communities tends to enhance market power for the existing cities; furthermore, annexing cities and cities located in states with substantial barriers to new competitors appear to pay higher wages. Local market conditions may be as important in determining wage levels as local labor market conditions.

Economic aspects, Compensation and benefits, Labor relations, Market share, Municipal services, Public employees, Government employees, Annexation (Municipal government), Municipal incorporation, Municipal corporations

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Municipal residency laws: effects on police employment, compensation, and productivity

Article Abstract:

This paper offers an alternative model of the effects of residency laws in municipal labor markets. Unlike previous studies, the model assumes that public employee labor markets are characterized by conditions of excess supply and that public services are produced under noncompetitive conditions. The model also implies that productivity improvements increase rather than reduce labor demand, yielding different results with respect to the wage and employment effects of residency requirements. The non-clearing market model is tested using data on municipal police officers. The results are more compatible with the disequilibrium model than with models based on a competitive equilibrium. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Police protection, Models, Laws, regulations and rules, Labor market, Police, Police officers

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Non-clearing labor markets and minority employment in municipal government

Article Abstract:

This paper posits a public choice model for explaining the variation across cities in the minority share of local government employment. The paper argues that, when hiring under conditions of excess supply, vote-maximizing local public employers exchange public sector jobs for political support from identifiable special interest groups. The model is tested for two local government occupations - police officer and firefighter - using a sample of cities above 50,000 in population. The results are compatible with the basic hypothesis that the greater the excess supply for an occupation, the higher the share of minority employment in that occupation. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Research, Analysis, Employee recruitment, Employment, Minorities, Minority employees, Working class

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