Unions, productivity, and productivity growth

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Albert N. Link, Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: An important recent development has been the emergence of a body of literature by Harvard economists emphasizing a collective voice/institutional response (CV/IR) view of unionism. Possibly the most controversial aspect of this literature (hereafter, the Harvard studies) concerns the effects of unions on labor productivity. Utilizing a production function approach, Brown and Medoff (1978), Clark (1980a, 1980b), and Allen (forthcoming), among others, find that unions increase labor productivity even after accounting for the microeconomic responses of firms to union wage premiums. While the collective voice view of unionism has not gone unchallenged, there is relatively little empirical evidence that seriously questions these results.

Additional Information

Publication
Journal of Labor Research 5(1), 29–37
Language: English
Date: 1984
Keywords
labor productivity, unionism, collective voice

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