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Labour unions and wage inequality among African men in South Africa

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  • Miracle Ntuli
  • Prudence Kwenda

Abstract

One Achilles' heel of post-Apartheid South Africa is the growing intra-racial income inequality, particularly among Africans. This paper examines the role of labour unions in explaining this phenomenon among African men given that labour markets are at the core of income inequality in South Africa. Using cross-sectional data drawn from Labour Force Surveys for 2001--10, we find a monotonically declining union wage premium. Further, our results indicate that unions have both compressionary and disequalising effects on wages. The disequalising effect dominates the compressionary effect, suggesting that unions have a net effect of increasing wage inequality among African men in South Africa. This finding implies that there is scope for unions to reduce inequality through initiatives that promote wage compression.

Suggested Citation

  • Miracle Ntuli & Prudence Kwenda, 2014. "Labour unions and wage inequality among African men in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 322-346, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:31:y:2014:i:2:p:322-346
    DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2013.872984
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    Cited by:

    1. Anda DAVID & Gibson MUDIRIZA & Joanna GROTTE & Ariane DE LANNOY & Murray LEIBBRANDT, 2023. "Developing a Youth Labour Market Index for South Africa at the sub-national level," Working Paper ba3e7ae3-f112-470b-baa9-9, Agence française de développement.
    2. Brändle, Tobias, 2024. "Unions and Collective Bargaining: The Influence on Wages, Employment and Firm Survival," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1457, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Kerr, Andrew & Wittenberg, Martin, 2021. "Union wage premia and wage inequality in South Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 255-271.
    4. Magejo, Prudence & Benhura, Miracle, 2015. "A Detailed Decomposition Analysis of the Public-Private Sector Wage Gap in South Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 9271, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Molefe Jonathan Maleka, 2018. "The Biographical and Human Resource Management Predictors of Union Membership Engagement of Low- and Middle-Income Workers," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(1), pages 207-216.

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