Unions, Work-Related Training, and Wages: Evidence for British Men

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent, nonprofit limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) supported by the Deutsche Post AG. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. The current research program deals with (1) mobility and flexibility of labor, (2) internationalization of labor markets, (3) welfare state and labor market, (4) labor markets in transition countries, (5) the future of labor, (6) evaluation of labor market policies and projects and (7) general labor economics. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available on the IZA website (www.iza.org) or directly from the author. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 1996, the authors investigate the impact of union coverage on work-related training and how the union-training link affects wages and wage growth for a sample of full-time men. Relative to uncovered workers, union-covered men are more likely to receive training and also receive more days of training. In addition, union-covered men experience greater returns to training, and coveredtrained workers face a higher wage growth. While some of these findings have been found in previous studies, others are new. The wage results, in particular, suggest a rethinking is warranted of the conventional view that union wage formation in Britain reduces the incentives to acquire work-related training.JEL Classification: J24, J31, J41

Education, Training and Economic Performance: Evidence from Establishment Survival Data

“…Bartel, 1995;Blundell et al, 1996;Green et al, 1996;Booth et al, 2003). 3 Several studies also support the view that training has positive effects on individual or organizational productivity (e.g.…”

Investment In Job Training : Why Are SMES Lagging So Much Behind ?

“…Booth et al(2003) and Bassanini et al (2005) discuss this in detail. The empirical work has also found mixed results.…”

Spillover effects of unionisation on non-members' wellbeing

“…A number of influential studies have established a link between unions and a pay premium and/or lower pay inequality (see, for example, Freeman 1980, Booth 1995, Gosling and Machin 1995, Clark and Oswald 1996, Card 1996, Card et al 2003, Budd and Na 2000, Metcalf et al 2001, Hirsch 2004, Blanchflower and Bryson 2004. Unions have also been linked to a number of other welfare improving changes for members, which include access to employer provided training (Booth 1991, Acemoglu et al 2001, Booth et al 2003, Waddoups 2012, risk sharing (Malcomson 1983), health insurance and pension plans (Buchmueller et al 2002), workplace and occupational health and safety (Donado and Walde 2012), family friendly policies (Budd and Mumford 2004), and curbing discrimination (Phanindra and Peled 1999). More generally, unions uphold members' interest in collective bargaining on issues such as transfers, promotions and grievances, among others, in the spirit of Freeman and Medoff (1984)'s "collective voice".…”