IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lev/wrkpap/wp_44.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Accounting for the Decline in Private Sector Unionization: Representation Elections, Structural Change and Restructuring

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Karier

Abstract

During the 1980s several qualitative changes occurred in the union decline. First, net gains from certification (less decertification) elections fell to insignificant levels, tending to accelerate the union decline. On the other hand, union losses from the relative growth of nonunion services (structural change) also declined sharply as unionization rates became more homogeneous across sectors. As a consequence, virtually all changes in the unionization rate during the 1980s were caused by disproportional gains in nonunion employment within sectors (restructuring).

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Karier, 1991. "Accounting for the Decline in Private Sector Unionization: Representation Elections, Structural Change and Restructuring," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_44, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp44.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward C. Kokkelenberg & Donna R. Sockell, 1985. "Union Membership in the United States, 1973–1981," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 38(4), pages 497-543, July.
    2. William T. Dickens & Jonathan S. Leonard, 1986. "Structural Changes in Unionization: 1973-1981," NBER Working Papers 1882, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Freeman, Richard B, 1988. "Contraction and Expansion: The Divergence of Private Sector and Public Sector Unionism in the United States," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 63-88, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Blanchflower, David G., 2006. "A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership," IZA Discussion Papers 2016, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Behroz Baraghoshi & Cihan Bilginsoy, 2013. "Interstate Variations in Private Sector Union Density in the U.S," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 180-202, June.
    4. Gregory, Robert G. & Borland, Jeff, 1999. "Recent developments in public sector labor markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 53, pages 3573-3630, Elsevier.
    5. Henrys Farber, 2001. "Union Success in Representation Elections: Why Does Unit Size Matter?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 329-348, January.
    6. Dieter Sadowski & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Bernd Frick, 1995. "Works Councils: Barriers or Boosts for the Competitiveness of German Firms?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 493-513, September.
    7. Henry S. Farber & Bruce Western, 2000. "Round Up The Usual Suspects: The Decline of Unions in The Private Sector, 1973-1998," Working Papers 816, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. Magnani, Elisabetta & Prentice, David, 2003. "Did globalization reduce unionization? Evidence from US manufacturing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(6), pages 705-726, December.
    9. Woodbury, Stephen A & Hamermesh, Daniel S, 1992. "Taxes, Fringe Benefits and Faculty," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(2), pages 287-296, May.
    10. Baron, E. Jason, 2018. "The Effect of Teachers’ Unions on Student Achievement in the Short Run: Evidence from Wisconsin’s Act 10," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 40-57.
    11. Hoehn, John P. & Berger, Mark C. & Blomquist, Glenn C., 1986. "A Hedonic Model of Interregional Wages, Rents and Amenity Values," Staff Paper Series 200902, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    12. 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.
    13. Barry T. Hirsch & Edward J. Schumacher, 2001. "Private Sector Union Density and the Wage Premium: Past, Present, and Future ," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 22(3), pages 487-518, July.
    14. Hornstein, Andreas & Krusell, Per & Violante, Giovanni L., 2005. "The Effects of Technical Change on Labor Market Inequalities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 20, pages 1275-1370, Elsevier.
    15. Eunice S. Han, 2023. "What did unions do for union workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 623-652, September.
    16. Susan Johnson, "undated". "'Legal' versus 'Economic' factors in the growth and decline of unions: A stock-flow analysis of Canada and the US," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 44, McMaster University.
    17. Laura Rovegno, 2013. "Trade protection and market power: evidence from US antidumping and countervailing duties," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(3), pages 443-476, September.
    18. Gonzalo Fernández-de-Córdoba & Javier Pérez & José Torres, 2012. "Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 309-326, January.
    19. Erol Taymaz, 1991. "The Impact of Trade Unions on the Diffusion of Technology: The Case of NC Machine Tools," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 305-311, June.
    20. Francisco González-Gómez & Miguel García‐Rubio & Francisco Alcalá-Olid & M. Ortega-Díaz, 2013. "Outsourcing and Efficiency in the Management of Rural Water Services," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(3), pages 731-747, February.
    21. Vjollca Sadiraj & Jan Tuinstra & Frans Winden, 2005. "Interest group size dynamics and policymaking," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 271-303, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_44. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Elizabeth Dunn (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.levyinstitute.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.