Are union productivity effects overestimated?: evidence from coal mining

Chezum, Brian; Garen, John

doi:10.1080/000368498325345

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…13 13 An additional issue concerns the possibility of selectivity. For example, unions may choose to unionize more productive firms (see Chezum and Garen 1998). This issue is not explored in the meta‐analysis. …”

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confidence: 99%

What Do Unions Do to Productivity? A Meta‐Analysis

Doucouliagos¹,

Laroche²

2003

Industrial Relations

219

154

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The impact of unions on productivity is explored using meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis. It is shown that most of the variation in published results is due to specification differences between studies. After controlling for differences between studies, a negative association between unions and productivity is established for the United Kingdom, whereas a positive association is established for the United States in general and for U.S. manufacturing.T HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UNIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY has attracted considerable attention from scholars in industrial relations and economics, as well as from policymakers, unions, and business in general. Despite voluminous theoretical literature, controversy continues regarding the impact of unions on productivity, as well as on other aspects of business, such as employment, research and development (R&D), profitability, and investment. In traditional economic analysis, unions are said to distort labor market outcomes through, for example, legal and custom-driven restrictions on relative wages, the imposition of employment restrictions, and protection against layoffs. Unions are said also to be a contributing factor to aggregate as well as sectoral unemployment and the associated output losses. In contrast to these arguments, Freeman (1976) andFreeman andMedoff (1984) argued that unions can raise productivity by providing workers with a means of expressing discontent as an alternative to "exiting," by opening up communication channels between workers and management, and by inducing managers to alter methods of production and to adopt more efficient policies.The controversy in the theoretical literature is matched by controversy in the empirical literature. Empirical findings are divided between positive and negative union-productivity effects, and many studies cannot reject the hypothesis of a zero effect. Hence generalizations from the available evidence * The authors' affiliations are, respectively,

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confidence: 99%

What Do Unions Do to Productivity? A Meta‐Analysis

Doucouliagos¹,

Laroche²

2003

Industrial Relations

219

154

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“…In other words, was unionization as good as randomly assigned, conditional on observed production inputs? Or did the UMWA tend to target the most productive mines, as suggested by Chezum and Garen (1996, 1998)?…”

Section: Unionization In West Virginia Coal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Unionization on Productivity: Evidence from a Long Panel of Coal Mines

Boal

2016

ILR Review

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The author measures the effect of unionization on productivity based on a panel of West Virginia coal mines from 1897 to 1928. Output and inputs are measured in physical terms, and most of the mines in the panel changed union status at least once, though not simultaneously, so the panel is close to ideal for measuring the effect of unionization on productivity. Fixed-effects estimates show that the union had little effect on productivity before 1914, but thereafter it had a negative effect of 5 to 10%. This negative effect was not reversed when mines were later deunionized. The author evaluates a variety of possible explanations for these results. Some evidence points to declining investment at union mines relative to nonunion mines, but the evidence is circumstantial and the direction of causality is unclear. The most plausible explanation is a sharp deterioration in labor relations at union mines after the violent Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912–1913.

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“…At the beginning, the unionization-productivity relation was examined at industries in various countries, especially at public sector, for many branches of industries like construction, cement, banking and coal. Many of these studies inspired by studies of Medof (1979 and1984) have used data of the USA and the UK and focused on productivity level of these two countries (Clark, 1980 and1984;Addison and Hirsch, 1989;Denny, 1997;Chezum and Garen, 1998). While many of the studies originated from the USA associate unionization with high productivity, many of the studies in the UK and Australia reveal either there is no effect of unionization on productivity or there is a negative effect on it.…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Sendikalaşma Oranı İşgücü Verimliliği İçin Önemli midir?: Panel Kanıt

Koyuncu

Işcan

2016

Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi

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This study investigates the effect of unionization rate on labor productivity by using thirteen distinct labor productivity indicators. The data used in the analyses is unbalanced data covers the periods between 2000 and 2013 for fifty one countries. There are two opposite empirical findings on the issue in the literature. While some of the studies find negative association between unionization and productivity, the others find positive association between unionization and productivity. Hence the impact of unionization on productivity is ambiguous. The main finding of the study reveals a strong and statistically significant negative association between unionization rate and labor productivity and this finding remains valid in all models. Hence we may conclude that countries with higher unionization rate face lower labor productivity level.

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Are union productivity effects overestimated?: evidence from coal mining

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

What Do Unions Do to Productivity? A Meta‐Analysis

What Do Unions Do to Productivity? A Meta‐Analysis

The Effect of Unionization on Productivity: Evidence from a Long Panel of Coal Mines

Sendikalaşma Oranı İşgücü Verimliliği İçin Önemli midir?: Panel Kanıt

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