IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/v96y1988i5p1022-47.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Organized Labor and the Scope of International Specialization

Author

Listed:
  • Staiger, Robert W

Abstract

This paper examines the interaction between union wages and the international pattern of production and trade. If union goods are heterogeneous in labor intensity, the introduction of an active union in the domestic country causes only the least labor-intensive range of union goods to be produced there, with goods of greatest labor intensity produced abroad because of the relatively high cost of domestic union labor. A narrowing of the scope of domestic union production will eliminate relatively labor-intensive goods, leading a rent-maximizing union to raise its union premium. The implications of this union behavior for comparative statics results are considered. Copyright 1988 by University of Chicago Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Staiger, Robert W, 1988. "Organized Labor and the Scope of International Specialization," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 1022-1047, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:96:y:1988:i:5:p:1022-47
    DOI: 10.1086/261574
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/261574
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. See http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE for details.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/261574?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oswald, Andrew J, 1982. "Trade Unions, Wages and Unemployment: What Can Simple Models Tell Us?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 526-545, November.
    2. McDonald, Ian M & Solow, Robert M, 1981. "Wage Bargaining and Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 896-908, December.
    3. Gene M. Grossman, 1984. "International Competition and the Unionized Sector," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 17(3), pages 541-556, August.
    4. Avinash K. Dixit & Gene M. Grossman, 1982. "Trade and Protection with Multistage Production," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(4), pages 583-594.
    5. Diewert, W E, 1974. "The Effects of Unionization on Wages and Employment: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 12(3), pages 319-339, September.
    6. Freeman, Richard B & Medoff, James L, 1982. "Substitution between Production Labor and Other Inputs in Unionized and Nonunionized Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 220-233, May.
    7. Stephen P. Magee, 1971. "Factor Market Distortions, Production, Distribution, and the Pure Theory of International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 85(4), pages 623-643.
    8. Paul Krugman, 1986. "Strategic Trade Policy and the New International Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262610450, December.
    9. Dornbusch, Rudiger & Fischer, Stanley & Samuelson, Paul A, 1977. "Comparative Advantage, Trade, and Payments in a Ricardian Model with a Continuum of Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(5), pages 823-839, December.
    10. Freeman, Richard B & Medoff, James L, 1981. "The Impact of the Percentage Organized on Union and Nonunion Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(4), pages 561-572, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume, 2012. "Employment Protection Versus Flexicurity: On Technology Adoption in Unionised Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 177-199, March.
    2. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Straume, Odd Rune, 2009. "Can deunionization lead to international outsourcing?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 109-119, February.
    3. Gaston, Noel & Trefler, Daniel, 1995. "Union wage sensitivity to trade and protection: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume & Lars Sørgard, 2006. "National versus international mergers in unionized oligopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 212-233, March.
    5. Huizinga, Harry, 1999. "A two-region model of redistribution, migration and international trade," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 335-354, March.
    6. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Rune Straume, Odd, 2006. "Globalisation and union opposition to technological change," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Straume, Odd Rune, 2007. "Technology resistance and globalisation with trade unions: the choice between employment protection and flexicurity," Working Papers in Economics 13/07, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    8. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1994. "North-South Trade and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 755-787.
    9. Sly, Nicholas & Soderbery, Anson, 2014. "Strategic sourcing and wage bargaining," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 172-187.
    10. Blanchflower, David G. & Bryson, Alex, 2004. "The union wage premium in the US and the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19987, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Huizinga, H.P., 1995. "International trade and migration in the presence of sector-specific labor quality pricing distortions," Other publications TiSEM 7c54ef36-2f2f-4bdf-850e-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. John T. King & Mark A. Yanochik, 2011. "John Stuart Mill and The Economic Rationale for Organized Labor," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 56(2), pages 28-34, November.
    13. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2003. "What Effect do Unions Have on Wages Now and Would 'What Do Unions Do' Be Surprised?," NBER Working Papers 9973, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johnson, Robert C. & Moxnes, Andreas, 2023. "GVCs and trade elasticities with multistage production," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    2. Almas Heshmati & Ilham Haouas, 2004. "The effects of union wage-settings on firms' production factor decisions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 415-420.
    3. Nair-Reichert, Usha & Pomery, John, 1999. "International R&D rivalry and export market shares of unionized industries: Some evidence from the US manufacturing sector," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 77-97, October.
    4. Bridgman, Benjamin, 2012. "The rise of vertical specialization trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 133-140.
    5. Chang, Juin-jen & Shaw, Ming-fu & Lai, Ching-chong, 2007. "A "Managerial" trade union and economic growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 365-384, February.
    6. Nowak, Jean-Jacques & Petit, Sylvain & Sahli, Mondher, 2010. "Tourism and Globalization: The International Division of Tourism Production," MPRA Paper 75083, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ms. Prachi Mishra & Mr. Utsav Kumar, 2005. "Trade Liberalization and Wage Inequality: Evidence From India," IMF Working Papers 2005/020, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Kostøl, Fredrik B. & Svarstad, Elin, 2023. "Trade Unions and the Process of Technological Change," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
    10. Marco Guerrazzi & Pier Giuseppe Giribone, 2021. "Dynamic wage bargaining and labour market fluctuations: the role of productivity shocks," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(8), pages 1-20, August.
    11. Mulder, C B, 1993. "Wage-Moderating Effects of Corporatism: Decentralized versus Centralized Wage Setting in a Union, Firm, Government Context," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 61(3), pages 287-301, September.
    12. Chang, Juin-jen & Lai, Ching-chong, 1997. "Union membership and employment dynamics with endogenous union density," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 119-125, November.
    13. Rupayan Pal, 2011. "Union-Firm Bargaining Under Alternative Pay Schemes: Does Performance Related Pay Fair Better?," Working Papers id:3803, eSocialSciences.
    14. J.-J. Nowak & Sylvain Petit & M. Sahli, 2013. "Tourism and Globalization : A Trade Theoretic Approach," Post-Print hal-02948590, HAL.
    15. Jeffrey Sachs, 1986. "High Unemployment in Europe: Diagnosis and Policy Implications," NBER Working Papers 1830, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Lourdes Moreno & Diego Rodríguez, 2011. "Markups, Bargaining Power and Offshoring: An Empirical Assessment-super-1," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(9), pages 1593-1627, September.
    17. Sugata Marjit, 1992. "Technology and obsolescence: A reinterpretation of the specific-factor model of production," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 193-207, June.
    18. Ahn, Tom & Arcidiacono, Peter, 2004. "Paying to queue: a theory of locational differences in nonunion wages," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 565-579, May.
    19. Schimmelpfennig, Axel, 1999. "Whodunnit? Changes in the relative demand for unskilled and skilled labor," Kiel Working Papers 914, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    20. Benjamin Bridgman, 2013. "International Supply Chains And The Volatility Of Trade," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(4), pages 2110-2124, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:96:y:1988:i:5:p:1022-47. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.