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Decline of US Labor Unions and the Role of Trade, The

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  • Robert E. Baldwin

Abstract

Between 1977 and 1997, there was a precipitous decline in the proportion of US workers with median education (12 years or less) who were represented by a labor union--from 29 to 14 percent; the unionization proportion declined much less among workers with above-median education (19 to 13 percent). The union wage premium also declined for workers with basic education, from 58 to 51 percent, whereas it rose slightly for better-educated unionists, from 18 to 19 percent. Thus, whatever safety net American unions provide was disproportionately lost by the less-educated workers who, arguably, need it the most. In this study, Robert E. Baldwin investigates the role of changes in US imports and exports in explaining this dramatic decline. The main analysis (which includes workers in manufacturing as well as service sectors) relates changes in the number of union workers across industries to changes in domestic spending, imports, exports, and the intensity with which labor is used across these industries for both union and nonunion workers. Baldwin finds that although globalization (i.e., increased trade) seems to have contributed only modestly to the general decline in unionization, it has, more importantly, contributed to the decline in unionization among workers with less education. The study concludes with a discussion on the implication of this and the other findings for governmental policy and for the policy position of unions toward globalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert E. Baldwin, 2003. "Decline of US Labor Unions and the Role of Trade, The," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 352, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:iie:ppress:352
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pinghui Wu, 2022. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Labor Force Exit: The Case of US Prime-Age Men," Working Papers 22-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    2. Reshad N. Ahsan & Arghya Ghosh & Devashish Mitra, 2017. "International trade and unionization: Evidence from India," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(2), pages 398-425, May.
    3. repec:lic:licosd:13603 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Baris Kaymak & Omer Acikgoz, 2011. "The Rising Skill Premium and Deunionization in the United States," 2011 Meeting Papers 1433, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Emin M. Dinlersoz & Jeremy Greenwood, 2012. "The Rise and Fall of Unions in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 18079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. John Schmitt & Alexandra Mitukiewicz, 2012. "Politics matter: changes in unionisation rates in rich countries, 1960–2010," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 260-280, May.
    7. Emin M. Dinlersoz & Jeremy Greenwood, 2012. "The Rise and Fall of Unions in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 18079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Föll, Tobias & Hartmann, Anna, 2019. "A Joint Theory of Polarization and Deunionization," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203558, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Açıkgöz, Ömer Tuğrul & Kaymak, Barış, 2014. "The rising skill premium and deunionization," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 37-50.
    10. L. Josh Bivens & Christian E. Weller, 2006. "The “Job-Loss” Recovery: Not New, Just Worse," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 603-628, September.

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