The decline of US labor unions and the role of trade / Robert E. Baldwin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baldwin, Robert E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor unions--United States.

Labor unions.

Industrial relations--United States.

Industrial relations.

International trade.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (104 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Institute for International Economics, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Overview

Chapter 2 Trends in National and Regional Unionization Rate in Union Versus Nonunion Wages

National Trends in Unionization

Regional Trends in Unionization

Trends in the Earnings of Union Relative to Nonunion Workers

Chapter 3 Changes in Unionization Rates: A Decomposition Analysis

Industry Effects on the National Rate of Unionization

Industry Effects on Regional Unionization Rates in Manufacturing

Regional Effects on the National Unionization Rate in Manufacturing

Chapter 4 The Effects of Trade and Other Economic Factors on the Rate of Unionization: An Analytical Review

Increases in Trade and Foreign Direct Investment

Technological Changes

Relative Shifts in the Demand for Goods and Services

Changes in the Relative Supply of Basically Educated Versus More-Educated Labor

Net Effects of the Four Economic Forces

Chapter 5 Estimating the Impact of Increased Trade on the Employment of Union and Nonunion Workers

Statistical Model

Data Issues

Summary Statistics

Regression Results

Total Employment Effects

Chapter 6 Conclusions

Main Findings

The Need for More Extensive Worker Assistance Programs

Appendices

Appendix A Data Sources

National Data

Employment Data

Regional Data

Appendix B List of Industries in the Database

References

Index.

Notes:

"June 2003."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 81) and index.

ISBN:

9786611125127

9781281125125

1281125121

9780881324488

0881324485

9781435616400

1435616405

OCLC:

227038335