Right-to-Work Laws and the Extent of Unionization

Henry S. Farber

69 citations0/0 files storedNational Bureau of Economic Research

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Labor Movements and Unions Labor market dynamics and wage inequality Legal and Labor Studies

Abstract

It is a well known fact that the extent of unionization is lower in states with Right-to-Work (RTW) laws.A framework is developed for determining whether RTW laws actually cause a decrease in the extent of unionization or whether they simply mirror preexisting tastes of workers against unions.A set of empirical tests is proposed that can distinguish between these explanations based on differences between RTW and non-RIW states in the demand for union representation, the supply of union jobs relative to that demand, and the observed union-nonunion wage differential.Data from the Quality of Employment Survey and from the Current Population Survey are utilized to implement the tests.The results indicate that the demand for union representation is significantly lower in states with RTW laws.At the same time no signi- ficant difference is found on the basis of RTW laws in the supply of union jobs relative to demand.It is also found that the observed union-nonunion wage differential is slightly larger in RTW states.This pattern is con- sistent with the hypothesis that RTW laws simply mirror preexisting preferences against union representation.In its entirety it is not consistent with the hypothesis that RTW laws cause a decrease in the extent of unionization.A final interesting result is that it is found that the extent of unionization in the south is lower even after controlling for the presence of RTW laws in many of the states in that region.Further, ft is determined that this is due to a supply of union jobs in the south that is more constrained relative to demand than elsewhere.This suggests that there exist a set of institutional or economic factors in the south that makes union organizing more difficult and expensive independent of the existence of RTW laws.

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References

1980Unionism and the Dispersion of Wages 1982Job Queues and the Union Status of Workers 1980Why Workers Want Unions: The Role of Relative Wages and Job Characteristics 1979New Estimates of Private Sector Unionism in the United States 1975The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unionization in the United States

Cited by

1986An Analysis of Public and Private Sector Wages Allowing for Endogenous Choices of Both Government and Union Status 2000The Union Membership Wage Premium for Employees Covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements 2004What unions do: Insights from economic theory 1991Right-to-Work Laws, Free Riders, and Unionization in the Local Public Sector 1995Empirical evidence on the union free-rider problem: Do right-to-work laws matter?2016Do Anti-Union Policies Increase Inequality? Evidence from State Adoption of Right-to-Work Laws 1995Right-to-work laws and union density: New evidence from micro data 2000Right-to-Work Laws: New Evidence from the Stock Market

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