Union/Nonunion Wage Gaps in the Public Sector

Lewis, H. Gregg

doi:10.1086/298252

Cited by 40 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…In fact, many studies that examined the impacts of labor unions on earnings in the public sector have found that the public sector union-nonunion wage gap has been lower than in the private sector (Freeman 1986;Lewis 1990;Blanchflower and Bryson 2004). In most cases, these smaller union-nonunion wage gaps in the public sector have been attributed to limited bargaining power.…”

Section: Public Sector Bargainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) the labor intensive nature of government services, government budget constraints and a low public tolerance for paying for government services (Lewin et al 1988); (2) the introduction of labor saving technologies and outsourcing public services (Lewin 1987); (3) the high proportion of public sector workers in white collar occupations (Lewis 1990); (4) Legal restrictions on the right to strike (Freeman 1986); and (5) monopsony power by public sector employers (Mueller 2000). Others have noted that although union wage premiums have been lower in the public sector than in the private sector, the influence of unions in the public sector may be manifest in other areas such as fringe benefits and job security (Lewis 1990;Mueller 2000).…”

Section: Public Sector Bargainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Union Worker Wage Effect in the Public Sector

2008

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Section: Public Sector Bargainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Public Sector Bargainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Union Worker Wage Effect in the Public Sector

2008

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“…Basing his conclusion on a review of two dozen studies of public sector wages, Lewis (1988) found the typical union gap in the public sector to be between 8% and 12%.12…”

Section: Initial Estimation and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wote that Lewis (1986) and Heywood (1988) have argued that some of the influence from the percentage organized may result frotn otnitted variable bias.…”

Section: Public Sector Density and Earningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Sector Earnings and the Extent of Unionization

Belman¹,

Heywood²,

Lund³

1997

ILR Review

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Many studies have examined the influence of union density (union members as a percentage of all workers) on earnings in the private sector, but few such studies have looked at the public sector. Using data from the 1991 Current Population Survey, this study estimates the determinants of earnings for state a n d local government employees in both the union a n d nonunion sectors. T h e extent of public sector unionization appears to be positively correlated with earnings for both state and local government workers a n d for those covered a n d not covered by collective agreements. Although the effect for non-covered employees is smaller than that for covered employees, both effects are larger than those typically found in similar estimates for the private sector. T h e authors also find that bargaining structure has some influence on earnings, with the most consistent effect being a positive influence of arbitration on the earnings of local government workers.T he rise of public sector unionism has generated an enormous volume of research on the theoretical and empirical relationships among bargaining laws, union membership, public sector employment, and earnings. The largest share of this literature examines the interplay among the legal environment, bargaining, and union membership. A large secondary share of the research focuses on the influence of *Dale Uelmarl is Associate Professor of Econotnics and John S. Heywood is Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and J o h n Lund is Professor, School for Workers, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The authors thank Robert Drago, .James Peoples, Robert Valletta, and seminar participants at Northern Illinois University for insightful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. different dispute resolution procedures on earnings; and other studies examine the role played by public sector unionism in determining public sector employment levels.Surprisingly little of this literature, however, examines the relationship between the extent of public sector unionization and the level of public sector earnings. This neglect contrasts sharply with the extensive literature studying the relationship between union density and earnings in the private sector. Numerous studies have found that the extent of unionization posi-

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“…The left panel of Figure 2 shows one possible 9 Empirical evidence has shown that there is a signi…cant union-nonunion public sector wage gap. See Lewis (1990), Zax and Ichniowski (1988), Hoxby (1996), andFrandsen (2011). 10 The empirical evidence is also mixed.…”

Section: Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

General revenue sharing and public sector unions

Feiveson

2015

Journal of Public Economics

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The United States federal government implemented a large general revenue sharing program from 1972 to 1986, in which it transferred nearly 300 billion (2009) dollars to over 35,000 state and local governments. I examine whether large city governments spent the funds that they received and how the strength of public sector bargaining a¤ected whether the funds were spent on new employment or increased wages. I …nd that, on average, city governments spent the transfers completely, in contrast to the …ndings of some of the recent " ‡ypaper" literature; and that cities in states with pro-union collective bargaining laws spent more than half of the transfers on increased wages while cities in states without such laws spent a greater fraction of the funds on new employment. These …ndings suggest that local institutions, in this case public sector unions, play an important role in determining the way intergovernmental grants translate into spending outcomes. They highlight the potential heterogeneity in the way such grants may be spent in di¤erent jurisdictions. Moreover, if raising the wages of existing workers has a di¤erent macroeconomic stimulative e¤ect than hiring new workers, they may also suggest di¤erences across places in the "multiplier" associated with federal transfers to state and local governments. I …nd suggestive, though weak, evidence that the output multiplier on spending on new employment is larger than the multiplier on increased government wages.I am very grateful to my advisors Jim Poterba and Michael Greenstone for their guidance and support. I also thank Olivier Blanchard, Francesco Giavazzi, Monica Martinez-Bravo, and seminar participants at MIT and SAIS for helpful comments and suggestions.

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Union/Nonunion Wage Gaps in the Public Sector

Cited by 40 publications

References 39 publications

Union Worker Wage Effect in the Public Sector

Union Worker Wage Effect in the Public Sector

Public Sector Earnings and the Extent of Unionization

General revenue sharing and public sector unions

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