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Does Union Membership Really Reduce Job Satisfaction?

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Author Info
Alex Bryson
Lorenzo Cappellari
Claudio Lucifora

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Abstract

We investigate the effect of union membership on job satisfaction. Using linked employer-employee data from the 1998 British Workplace Employee Relations Survey, we analyse the relationship between the membership decision and overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with pay. In this paper we account for the endogenous selection induced by the sorting of workers into unionized jobs. Controlling for both individual and establishment heterogeneity and explicitly modelling the effect of union status, we find that the marked difference in job satisfaction between unionized and non-unionized workers disappears, suggesting that a selection effect, rather than a causal effect, characterizes the relationship. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2004.

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File URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2004.00324.x
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics in its journal British Journal of Industrial Relations.

Volume (Year): 42 (2004)
Issue (Month): 3 (09)
Pages: 439-459
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Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:42:y:2004:i:3:p:439-459

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  1. repec:fth:prinin:452 is not listed on IDEAS
  2. Keith A. Bender & Peter J. Sloane, 1998. "Job satisfaction, trade unions, and exit-voice revisited," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 51(2), pages 222-240, January.
  3. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Richard B. Freeman, 1978. "Job Satisfaction as an Economic Variable," NBER Working Papers 0225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1998. "Comparison-concave utility and following behaviour in social and economic settings," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 133-155, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1979. "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 972-90, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Miller, Paul W, 1990. "Trade Unions and Job Satisfaction," Australian Economic Papers, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 29(55), pages 226-48, December.
  8. Lorenzo Cappellari & Claudio Lucifora & Giulio Piccirilli, 2004. "Union Activism, Workers' Satisfaction and Organizational Change," LABOUR, CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd, vol. 18(1), pages 1-28, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Alex Bryson, 2002. "The Union Membership Wage Premium: An Analysis Using Propensity Score Matching," CEP Discussion Papers dp0530, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  10. Michael E. Gordon & Angelo S. Denisi, 1995. "A re-examination of the relationship between union membership and job satisfaction," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 48(2), pages 222-236, January.
  11. Burdett, Kenneth & Mortensen, Dale T, 1998. "Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(2), pages 257-73, May.
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  1. D. Fabbri & C. Monfardini & R. Radice, 2004. "Testing exogeneity in the bivariate probit model: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to health economics," Working Papers 514, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  2. Haile, Getinet Astatike, 2009. "Workplace Job Satisfaction in Britain: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4101, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Luis Diaz-Serrano & Alexandrina P. Stoyanova, 2008. "The Causal Relationship between Individual’s Choice Behavior and Self-Reported Satisfaction: the Case of Residential Mobility in the EU," Working Papers XREAP2008-2, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Mar 2008. [Downloadable!]
  4. Melvyn Coles & Barbara Petrongolo, 2003. "A Test Between Unemployment Theories Using Matching Data," CEP Discussion Papers dp0570, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Steve Bradley & Alina Petrescu & Rob Simmons, 2004. "The impacts of human resource management practices and pay inequality on workers' job satisfaction," Working Papers 000276, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bryson, Alex & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Lucifora, Claudio, 2005. "Why So Unhappy? The Effects of Unionisation on Job Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 1498, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Federica Origo & Laura Pagani, 2006. "Is Work Flexibility a Stairway to Heaven? The Story Told by Job Satisfaction in Europ," Working Papers 97, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2006. [Downloadable!]
  8. Georgellis, Yannis & Lange, Thomas, 2009. "Are Union Members Happy Workers after All? Evidence from Eastern and Western European Labor Markets," MPRA Paper 17020, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. Andrew E. Clark, 2004. "Your money or your life: Changing job quality in OECD countries," DELTA Working Papers 2004-31, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2006. "Housing Satisfaction, Homeownership and Housing Mobility: A Panel Data Analysis for Twelve EU Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 2318, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  12. Vicente Royuela & Jordi Suriñach, 2009. "Quality in work and aggregate productivity," IREA Working Papers 200901, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jan 2009. [Downloadable!]
  13. Wenshu Gao & Russell Smyth, 2009. "Job Satisfaction And Relative Income In Economic Transition: Status Or Signal? The Case Of Urban China," Development Research Unit Working Paper Series 12-09, Monash University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Sánchez Cañizares, Sandra Mª & Artacho Ruiz, Carlos & Fuentes García, Fernando J. & López-Guzmán Guzmán,Tomás J., 2007. "Análisis de los determinantes estructurales de la satisfacción laboral. Aplicación en el sector educativo/Analizing the Structural Determinants of Job Satisfaction. An Application in the Educationa," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 25, pages 819 - 34 , Diciembre. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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