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Welfare Expenditures and the Decline of Unions

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  • Moore, William J
  • Newman, Robert J
  • Scott, Loren C

Abstract

To what extent has the increased supply by government of certain union-like services reduced the demand for union membership and thereby contributed to the decline in trade union density? The existing empirical evidence is meager and conflicting. The puropse of our paper is to reexamine the government substitution hypothesis, specifically with respect to the relationship between government welfare spending and union density. We test the hypothesis with time-series data using three alternative models of union growth. The advantage of this approach is that it will permit an assessment of how sensitive the results are to both specification and sample period changes. In all, we find the time-series evidence of a negative welfare effect on union density to be mixed. Copyright 1989 by MIT Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Moore, William J & Newman, Robert J & Scott, Loren C, 1989. "Welfare Expenditures and the Decline of Unions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(3), pages 538-542, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:71:y:1989:i:3:p:538-42
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel J. Galvin, 2021. "Labor’s Legacy: The Construction of Subnational Work Regulation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1103-1131, October.
    2. Christopher Coombs, 2008. "The Decline in American Trade Union Membership and the “Government Substitution” Hypothesis:A Review of the Econometric Literature," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 99-113, June.
    3. Christopher K. Coombs & Richard Cebula, 2011. "The Impact of Union Corruption on Union Membership," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 131-148, January.
    4. Christopher Coombs & Robert Newman & Richard Cebula & Mary White, 2015. "The Bargaining Power of Health Care Unions and Union Wage Premiums for Registered Nurses," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 442-461, December.
    5. Wayne Edwards & Scott M. Fuess, Jr., 2005. "Declining Unionization: Do Fringe Benefits Matter?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 563-580, Fall.

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