IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp14208.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Collective Bargaining Rights, Policing, and Civilian Deaths

Author

Listed:
  • Cunningham, Jamein

    (University of Memphis)

  • Feir, Donn. L.

    (University of Victoria)

  • Gillezeau, Rob

    (University of Victoria)

Abstract

Do collective bargaining rights for law enforcement result in more civilian deaths at the hands of the police? Using an event-study design, we find that the introduction of duty to bargain requirements with police unions has led to a significant increase in non-white civilian deaths at the hands of police during the late twentieth century. We find no impact on various crime rate measures and suggestive evidence of a decline in police employment, consistent with increasing compensation. Our results indicate that the adoption of collective bargaining rights for law enforcement can explain approximately 10 percent of the total non-white civilian deaths at the hands of law enforcement between 1959 and 1988. This effect is robust to a contiguous county approach, accounting for heterogeneity in treatment timing, and numerous other specifications. While the relationship between police unions and violence against civilians is not clear ex-ante, our results show that the popular notion that police unions exacerbate police violence is empirically grounded.

Suggested Citation

  • Cunningham, Jamein & Feir, Donn. L. & Gillezeau, Rob, 2021. "Collective Bargaining Rights, Policing, and Civilian Deaths," IZA Discussion Papers 14208, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp14208.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Masera, Federico, 2021. "Police safety, killings by the police, and the militarization of US law enforcement," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Aaron Chalfin & Justin McCrary, 2018. "Are U.S. Cities Underpoliced? Theory and Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 167-186, March.
    3. Chris (hristos) Doucouliagos & Richard B Freeman & Patrice Laroche, 2017. "The economic of trade unions," Post-Print hal-02976776, HAL.
    4. repec:oup:alecon:v:18:y:2016:i:2:p:385-437. is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Bartel, Ann & Lewin, David, 1981. "Wages and Unionism in the Public Sector: The Case of Police," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(1), pages 53-59, February.
    6. Frank Edwards & Hedwig Lee & Michael Esposito, 2019. "Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(34), pages 16793-16798, August.
    7. Barber, C. & Azrael, D. & Cohen, A. & Miller, M. & Thymes, D. & Wang, D.E. & Hemenway, D., 2016. "Homicides by police: Comparing counts from the national violent death reporting system, vital statistics, and supplementary homicide reports," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(5), pages 922-927.
    8. Andrea Cann Chandrasekher, 2016. "The Effect of Police Slowdowns on Crime," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 18(2), pages 385-437.
    9. Alexandre Mas, 2006. "Pay, Reference Points, and Police Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(3), pages 783-821.
    10. Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2019. "An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(3), pages 1210-1261.
    11. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    12. Peter Kuhn, 1998. "Innis Lecture: Unions and the Economy: What We Know; What We Should Know," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(5), pages 1033-1056, November.
    13. Ichniowski, Casey & Freeman, Richard B & Lauer, Harrison, 1989. "Collective Bargaining Laws, Threat Effects, and the Determination of Police Compensation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(2), pages 191-209, April.
    14. Michael F. Lovenheim & Alexander Willén, 2019. "The Long-Run Effects of Teacher Collective Bargaining," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 292-324, August.
    15. Dhammika Dharmapala & Richard H. McAdams & John Rappaport, 2019. "Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida," CESifo Working Paper Series 7718, CESifo.
    16. Stephen J. Trejo, 1991. "Public Sector Unions and Municipal Employment," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(1), pages 166-180, October.
    17. Arindrajit Dube & T. William Lester & Michael Reich, 2010. "Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 945-964, November.
    18. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    19. Richard B. Freeman & Casey Ichniowski, 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free88-1, March.
    20. Freeman, Richard B. & Ichniowski, Casey (ed.), 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261669, December.
    21. Robert Valletta & Richard B. Freeman, 1988. "Appendix B: The NBER Public Sector Collective Bargaining Law Data Set," NBER Chapters, in: When Public Sector Workers Unionize, pages 399-420, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Benjamin Feigenberg & Conrad Miller, 2018. "Racial Divisions and Criminal Justice: Evidence from Southern State Courts," NBER Working Papers 24726, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Loftin, C. & Wiersema, B. & McDowall, D. & Dobrin, A., 2003. "Underreporting of Justifiable Homicides Committed by Police Officers in the United States, 1976-1998," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(7), pages 1117-1121.
    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. Rob Gillezeau & Drake T. Rushford & David N. Weaver, 2022. "Policing and Indigenous Civilian Deaths in Canada," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 210-239, September.
    2. Federico Masera, 2022. "The economics of policing and crimeThe economics of policing and crime," Chapters, in: Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Vanin & Juan Vargas (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, chapter 2, pages 12-29, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    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. Dhammika Dharmapala & Richard H. McAdams & John Rappaport, 2019. "Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida," CESifo Working Paper Series 7718, CESifo.
    2. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Eric Brunner & Joshua Hyman & Andrew Ju, 2020. "School Finance Reforms, Teachers' Unions, and the Allocation of School Resources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 473-489, July.
    4. Orley Ashenfelter & Dean Hyslop, 2001. "Measuring the Effect of Arbitration on Wage Levels: The Case of Police Officers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 316-328, January.
    5. Rebecca M. Blank, 1994. "Public Sector Growth and Labor Market Flexibility: The United States versus the United Kingdom," NBER Chapters, in: Social Protection versus Economic Flexibility: Is There a Trade-Off?, pages 223-264, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Feiveson, Laura, 2015. "General revenue sharing and public sector unions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 28-45.
    7. Fone, Zachary S. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Cesur, Resul, 2023. "The unintended effects of minimum wage increases on crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    8. Michael F. Lovenheim, 2009. "The Effect of Teachers' Unions on Education Production: Evidence from Union Election Certifications in Three Midwestern States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(4), pages 525-587, October.
    9. Bruno Ferman, 2023. "Inference in difference‐in‐differences: How much should we trust in independent clusters?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 358-369, April.
    10. Jerch, Rhiannon & Kahn, Matthew E. & Li, Shanjun, 2017. "The efficiency of local government: The role of privatization and public sector unions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 95-121.
    11. Rhiannon Jerch & Matthew E. Kahn & Shanjun Li, 2016. "Efficient Local Government Service Provision: The Role of Privatization and Public Sector Unions," NBER Working Papers 22088, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Duplantis, Malcolm M. & Chandler, Timothy D. & Geske, Terry G., 1995. "The growth and impact of teachers' unions in states without collective bargaining legislation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 167-178, June.
    13. Arold, W. Benjamin & Woessmann, Ludger & Zierow, Larissa, 2022. "Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education," IZA Discussion Papers 14989, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Kritee Gujral & Alice M. Ellyson & Ali Rowhani‐Rahbar & Frederick Rivara, 2023. "The community impact of school‐shootings on stress‐related emergency department visits," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 455-470, July.
    15. Richard V. Burkhauser & Drew McNichols & Joseph J. Sabia, 2023. "Minimum Wages and Poverty: New Evidence from Dynamic Difference-in-Differences Estimates," NBER Working Papers 31182, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Wilkes, Rima & Karimi, Aryan, 2023. "Multi-group data versus dual-side theory: On race contrasts and police-caused homicides," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    17. Nicola Mastrorocco & Arianna Ornaghi, 2020. "Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behavior in the United States," Trinity Economics Papers tep0720, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2020.
    18. Boylan, Richard T., 2022. "Should cities disband their police departments?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    19. Dale Belman & John S. Heywood & John Lund, 1997. "Public Sector Earnings and the Extent of Unionization," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(4), pages 610-628, July.
    20. Gregory, Robert G. & Borland, Jeff, 1999. "Recent developments in public sector labor markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 53, pages 3573-3630, Elsevier.
    21. Desmond Ang, 2021. "The Effects of Police Violence on Inner-City Students," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(1), pages 115-168.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    police unions; policing; deaths by legal intervention; collective bargaining; discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp14208. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.