Politico-Economic Causes of Labor Regulation in the United States: Rent Seeking, Alliances, Raising Rivals’ Costs (Even Lowering One’s Own?), and Interjurisdictional Competition

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Politico-Economic Causes of Labor Regulation in the United States: Rent Seeking, Alliances, Raising Rivals’ Costs (Even Lowering One’s Own?), and Interjurisdictional Competition

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John T. Addison () (University of South Carolina, Queen’s University Belfast, Universidade de Coimbra/GEMF and IZA Bonn)

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John Addison

Abstract

This paper offers an eclectic survey of the political economy of labor regulation in the United States at federal and state levels along the dimensions of occupational health and safety, unjust dismissal, right-to-work, workplace safety and workers’ compensation, living wages, and prevailing wages. We discuss rent seeking/predation, coalition formation, judicial review, and interjurisdictional competition as well as the implications of union decline. Our analysis should help dispel any notion that the U.S. labor market is unregulated while also indicating that the political process shows some sensitivity to benefits and costs.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2381.

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Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2381

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy
J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy
J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
J80 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - General
K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2006-11-25 (All new papers)
NEP-LAB-2006-11-25 (Labour Economics)
NEP-LAW-2006-11-25 (Law & Economics)
NEP-POL-2006-11-25 (Positive Political Economics)
NEP-REG-2006-11-25 (Regulation)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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Other versions:
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Other versions:
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Other versions:
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Other versions:
- Edward L. Glaeser & Andrei Shleifer, 2001. "The Rise of the Regulatory State," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1934, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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Other versions:
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Stigler, George J, 1970. "Director's Law of Public Income Redistribution," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, April.
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Other versions:
- Price V. Fishback & Shawn Everett Kantor, 1994. "Did Workers Pay for the Passage of Workers' Compensation Laws?," NBER Working Papers 4947, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Jonathan Gruber & Alan B. Krueger, 1990. "The Incidence of Mandated Employer-Provided Insurance: Lessons from Workers' Compensation Insurance," NBER Working Papers 3557, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
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