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What Businesses Attract Unions? Unionization over the Life-Cycle of U.S. Establishments

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Abstract

What type of businesses attract unions? A theory of union learning and organizing is developed to provide an answer to this question. A union monitors establishments in an industry to learn about their productivity and decides which ones to organize. An establishment becomes unionized if the union wins a certification election, the outcome of which can be influenced by costly actions taken by the two parties. The model offers predictions on the nature of union selection, which are examined empirically. Data on union certification elections, matched with data on establishment characteristics, is used to explore where union activity is concentrated. In Industrial and Labor Relations Review (May 2017), v. 70, n. 3: 733 766.

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  • Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Jeremy Greenwood, 2014. "What Businesses Attract Unions? Unionization over the Life-Cycle of U.S. Establishments," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 24, Economie d'Avant Garde.
    • Handle: RePEc:eag:rereps:24
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    Cited by:

    1. Dinlersoz, Emin & Greenwood, Jeremy, 2016. "The rise and fall of unions in the United States," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 129-146.
    2. Jeremy Greenwood & David Weiss, 2018. "Mining Surplus: Modeling James A. Schmitz'S Link Between Competition And Productivity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1015-1034, August.
    3. Emin Dinlersoz & Zoltan Wolf, 2018. "Automation, Labor Share, and Productivity: Plant-Level Evidence from U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 18-39, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Sezer, Ayse Hazal & Uras, Burak, 2024. "Firms and Unions," Other publications TiSEM 81a58c37-dd82-442d-aab1-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. de Pinto, Marco & Lingens, Jörg, 2019. "The impact of unionization costs when firm-selection matters," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 50-63.
    6. Marinescu, Ioana E. & Qiu, Yue & Sojourner, Aaron, 2021. "Wage Inequality and Labor Rights Violations," IZA Discussion Papers 14112, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. de Pinto, Marco & Michaelis, Jochen, 2019. "The labor market effects of trade union heterogeneity," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 60-72.
    8. Marco de Pinto & Jochen Michaelis, 2017. "Firm Selection and the Role of Union Heterogeneity," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201743, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    9. Sezer, Ayse Hazal & Uras, Burak, 2024. "Firms and Unions," Discussion Paper 2024-006, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    10. Suresh Naidu, 2022. "Is There Any Future for a US Labor Movement?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 3-28, Fall.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unionization; Union Organizing; Union Selection; Union Certification Election; Diffusion of Unionization; Employer Resistance to Unionization; Bayesian Learning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory

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