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From the Bargaining Table to the Ballot Box: Political Effects of Right to Work Laws

Author

Listed:
  • James Feigenbaum
  • Alexander Hertel-Fernandez
  • Vanessa Williamson

Abstract

Labor unions directly affect wages, employment, industrial structure, and inequality. But unions also influence the economy and labor market indirectly through their effects on politics, providing candidates with voters, volunteers, and contributions, and lobbying on public policy. We use the enactment of right-to-work laws---which weaken unions by removing agency shop protections---to estimate the effect of unions on politics and policy from 1980-2016. Comparing counties on either side of a state and right-to-work border to causally identify the effects of the state laws, we find that right-to-work laws reduce Democratic Presidential vote shares by 3.5 percentage points. We find similar effects in Senate, House, and Gubernatorial races, as well as on state legislative control. Turnout is also 2 percentage points lower in right-to-work counties after passage. Exploring the mechanisms, we find that right-to-work laws dampen organized labor contributions to Democrats and that potential Democratic voters are less likely to be contacted to vote. The weakening of unions also has large downstream effects: fewer working-class candidates serve in state legislatures and Congress, while state policy moves in a more conservative direction.

Suggested Citation

  • James Feigenbaum & Alexander Hertel-Fernandez & Vanessa Williamson, 2018. "From the Bargaining Table to the Ballot Box: Political Effects of Right to Work Laws," NBER Working Papers 24259, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24259
    Note: LS POL
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Becher, Michael & Stegmueller, Daniel, 2019. "Cognitive Ability, Union Membership, and Voter Turnout," IAST Working Papers 19-97, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    2. Norlander, Peter, 2019. "The Growing Divergence in U.S. Employee Relations: Individualism, Democracy, and Conflict," GLO Discussion Paper Series 321, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Kyung-nok Chun, 2023. "What do Right-to-Work Laws do to Unions? Evidence from Six Recently-Enacted RTW Laws," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 94-144, June.
    4. Jiwon Choi & Ilyana Kuziemko & Ebonya Washington & Gavin Wright, 2024. "Local Economic and Political Effects of Trade Deals: Evidence from NAFTA," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(6), pages 1540-1575, June.
    5. Henry S Farber & Daniel Herbst & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1325-1385.
    6. Shuichiro Nishioka & Eric Olson, 2023. "The political effects of trade with Japan in the 1980s," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(2), pages 451-471, April.
    7. E. Jason Baron, 2019. "Union Reform, Performance Pay, and New Teacher Supply: Evidence from Wisconsin's Act 10," Working Papers wp2019_01_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
    8. Shuichiro Nishioka & Eric Olson, 2022. "The Political Effects of Trade with Japan in the 1980s," Working Papers 22-04, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    9. Miriam Venturini, 2023. "The Imperfect Union: Labor Racketeering, Corruption Exposure, and Its Consequences," Working Papers 202407, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    10. Paul Frymer & Jacob M. Grumbach, 2021. "Labor Unions and White Racial Politics," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 225-240, January.
    11. Lyon, Melissa Arnold, 2021. "Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Carlo Medici, 2024. "Closing Ranks: Organized Labor and Immigration," CESifo Working Paper Series 11437, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining

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