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Union Wage Effects in Australia: Are There Variations in Distribution?

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Author Info
Lixin Cai () (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne)
Amy Y.C. Liu (Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University)

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Abstract

Previous research on union wage effects in Australia has focused on the central parts of the conditional wage distribution. This study uses quantile regression models to examine whether the union wage effect varies across the (conditional) wage distribution. The data draw upon the first four waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Union wage premiums are found across almost the entire wage distribution for both males and females. While for males it is evident that the union wage effect decreases when moving up the wage distribution, the effect for females is relatively stable except at the extremities of the distribution. Overall, unions are found to have a larger effect on male than on female wages. The decomposition results show that for males, the union wage effect explains a substantial proportion of the observed wage gap between union and non-union workers; this is not the case for females.

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Paper provided by Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne in its series Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series with number wp2007n017.

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Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2007n017

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  1. N. C. O'Leary & P. D. Murphy & D. H. Blackaby, 2004. "Quantile Regression Estimates of the Union Wage Effect for Great Britain," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 72(4), pages 497-514, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Idson, Todd L & Feaster, Daniel J, 1990. "A Selectivity Model of Employer-Size Wage Differentials," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 99-122, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2005. "Rising Wage Inequality: The Role of Composition and Prices," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2096, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Rene Morissette, 1993. "Canadian Jobs and Firm Size: Do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 159-74, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Andrews, Martyn J. & Stewart, Mark B. & Swaffield, Joanna K. & Upward, Richard, 1998. "The estimation of union wage differentials and the impact of methodological choices," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 449-474, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Wooden, Mark, 2001. "Union Wage Effects in the Presence of Enterprise Bargaining," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 77(236), pages 1-18, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Christie, Virginia, 1992. "Union Wage Effects and the Probability of Union Membership," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 68(200), pages 43-56, March.
  8. José Mata & José A. F. Machado, 2005. "Counterfactual decomposition of changes in wage distributions using quantile regression," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(4), pages 445-465. [Downloadable!]
  9. Melly, Blaise, 2005. "Decomposition of differences in distribution using quantile regression," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 577-590, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. David Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2002. "Changes over time in union relative wage effects in the UK and the US revisited," NBER Working Papers 9395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Mark Wooden & Simon Freidin & Nicole Watson, 2002. "The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA)Survey: Wave 1," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 35(3), pages 339-348. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Sap, Jolande, 1993. "Bargaining power and wages : A game-theoretic model of gender differences in union wage bargaining," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 25-48, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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