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The Effect of Collective Bargaining Legislation on Strikes and Wages

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Author Info
Peter Cramton () (Economics Department, University of Maryland)
Morley Gunderson ()
Joseph Tracy ()

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Using Canadian data on large, private-sector contract negotiations from January 1967 to March 1993, we find that strikes and wages are substantially influenced by labor policy. The data indicate that conciliation policies have largely been ineffective in reducing strike costs. In contrast, general contract reopener provisions appear to make both unions and employers better off by reducing negotiation costs without systematically affecting wage settlements. Legislation banning the use of replacement workers appears to lead to significantly higher negotiation costs and redistribution of quasi-rents from employers to unions.

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File URL: http://www.cramton.umd.edu/papers1995-1999/99restat-effect-of-collective-bargaining-legislation.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Maryland, Department of Economics - Peter Cramton in its series Papers of Peter Cramton with number 99res.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: 1999
Date of revision: 30 Jul 1998
Publication status: Published in Review of Economics and Statistics, 81:3, 1999, pages 475-487.
Handle: RePEc:pcc:pccumd:99res

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Economics Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-7211
Phone: (202) 318-0520
Fax: (202) 318-0520
Web page: http://www.cramton.umd.edu

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Peter Cramton).

Related research
Keywords: Collective Bargaining; Strikes; Labor Legislation;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information
J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation
J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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.:
  1. Ashenfelter, Orley & Johnson, George E, 1969. "Bargaining Theory, Trade Unions, and Industrial Strike Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 35-49, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Budd, J.W., 1993. "Canadian Strike Replacement Legislation and Collective Bargainig : Lessons for United States," Papers 93-08, Minnesota - Industrial Relations Center.
  3. Gunderson, Morley & Kervin, John & Reid, Frank, 1986. "Logit Estimates of Strike Incidence from Canadian Contract Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 257-76, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Currie, Janet & McConnell, Sheena, 1991. "Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Effect of Legal Structure on Dispute Costs and Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 693-718, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Card, David, 1988. "Longitudinal Analysis of Strike Activity," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 147-76, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Harrison, Alan & Stewart, Mark, 1989. "Cyclical Fluctuations in Strike Durations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 827-41, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Cramton, Peter C & Tracy, Joseph S, 1992. "Strikes and Holdouts in Wage Bargaining: Theory and Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 100-121, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Christofides, Louis N & Swidinsky, Robert & Wilton, David A, 1980. "A Microeconometric Analysis of Spillovers within the Canadian Wage Determination Process," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(2), pages 213-21, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Reder, Melvin W & Neumann, George R, 1980. "Conflict and Contract: The Case of Strikes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(5), pages 867-86, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, 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.)

  1. Kai-Uwe Kuuhn & A. Jorge Padilla, 2002. "Union Power, Replacement and Labour Market Dynamics," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(479), pages 317-343, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Carlos Diaz-Moreno & Jose E. Galdon-Sanchez, 2000. "Collective Bargaining under Complete Information," STICERD - Theoretical Economics Paper Series 401, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  3. Robert Rich & Joseph Tracy, 2000. "Uncertainty and Labor Contract Durations," NBER Working Papers 7731, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Oechssler, Jörg & Roider, Andreas & Schmitz, Patrick W., 2008. "Cooling-Off in Negotiations - Does It Work?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 08-06, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Peter Cramton & Joseph S. Tracy, 1998. "The Use of Replacement Workers in Union Contract Negotiations: The U.S. Experience, 1980-1989," Papers of Peter Cramton 98jole, University of Maryland, Department of Economics - Peter Cramton, revised 09 Jun 1998. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Rupayan Pal & Bibhas Saha, 2008. "Union-oligopoly bargaining and entry deterrence: a reassessment of limit pricing," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 95(2), pages 121-147, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Peter Cramton & Joseph Tracy, 2003. "Unions, Bargaining and Strikes," Papers of Peter Cramton 02ubs, University of Maryland, Department of Economics - Peter Cramton, revised 05 Sep 2002. [Downloadable!]
  8. John Budd & Yijiang Wang, . "Labor Policy and Investment," Working Papers 0502, Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus). [Downloadable!]
  9. Michael Huberman & Denise Young, 2000. "Hope against Hope: Persistent Canadian Unions in the Interwar Years," CIRANO Working Papers 2000s-28, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
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