Abstract
This paper, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, examines the effects of union membership on the wages of white males. The empirical relationship between current wage and union status is estimated controlling for union status in years before and after the current year. The resulting status profiles are four years long in contrast to one or two years used previously. Results indicate that wage changes experienced when workers join or leave unions vary significantly and systematically across these profiles. For example, a status change that appears to be long-term is associated with larger absolute wage changes than short-term changes in status.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashenfelter, Orley and George E. Johnson. “Unionism, Relative Wages, and Labor Quality in U.S. Manufacturing Industries.”International Economic Review 13 (October 1972): 488–508.
Brown, Charles. “Equalizing Differences in the Labor Market.”Quarterly Journal of Economics 94 (February 1980): 113–33.
_____ and James Medoff. “Trade Unions in the Production Process.”Journal of Political Economy 86 (June 1978): 355–78.
Duncan, Greg and Frank Stafford. “Do Union Members Receive Compensating Wage Differentials?”American Economic Review 70 (August 1980): 355–71.
Freeman, Richard B. “The Effect of Trade Unionism on Fringe Benefits.” NBER Working Paper No. 292 (October 1978).
Jones, Ethel B. “Union/Nonunion Differentials: Membership or Coverage.”Journal of Human Resources 17 (Winter 1982): 276–85.
Kursh, Harry.Apprenticeships in America. New York: W. W. Norton Company, Inc., 1965.
Lewis, H. G. “Competitive and Monopoly Unionism.” InThe Public Stake in Union Power, P. D. Bradley. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1959.
Mellow, W. “Unionism and Wages: A Longitudinal Analysis.”Review of Economics and Statistics 63 (February 1981): 43–52.
Moore, William J. and John Raisian. “Cyclical Sensitivity of Union/Nonunion Relation Wage Effects.” Mimeographed, 1981.
Pearce, James E. “Unionism and Cyclical Behavior of the Labor Market in U.S. Manufacturing.” Mimeographed, June 1982.
Survey Research Center.A Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Vols. 1 and 2. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1972.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors thank Jeff Moore for comments and suggestions on an early draft of this paper and express special appreciation to John Raisian for his painstaking and valuable review of a recent draft. We are, of course, responsible for remaining errors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunningham, J.S., Donovan, E. Patterns of union membership and relative wages. Journal of Labor Research 7, 127–144 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685306
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685306