IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v36y2018i1p93-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Wage Impact Of Teachers Unions: A Meta‐Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica S. Merkle
  • Michelle Andrea Phillips

Abstract

The literature examining the impact of teachers unions on education is very large and diverse. We meta‐analyze the literature on the wage impacts of teachers unions to try to draw out general findings, the importance of empirical model specification, and samples. A key finding of this study is that the average wage impact estimated by the included papers is modest, around 2%–4.5%. Our findings also suggest that the quality of an empirical strategy significantly affects the size of the estimated impact. We find that teachers union wage impacts have varied over time. The largest impacts appear to be following the rapid expansion of teacher unionism in the 1970s. Finally, we gain new insight into the goals of teachers unions by using the increased statistical power of meta‐analytic techniques to show that unions increase the wages of new teachers and not just senior teachers. (JEL J51, I21, I30)

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica S. Merkle & Michelle Andrea Phillips, 2018. "The Wage Impact Of Teachers Unions: A Meta‐Analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 93-115, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:36:y:2018:i:1:p:93-115
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12234
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12234
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12234?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard B. Freeman & Casey Ichniowski, 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free88-1, July.
    2. John V. Winters, 2011. "Teacher Salaries and Teacher Unions: A Spatial Econometric Approach," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(4), pages 747-764, July.
    3. Stoddard, Christiana, 2005. "Adjusting teacher salaries for the cost of living: the effect on salary comparisons and policy conclusions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 323-339, June.
    4. Simeon Djankov & Peter Murrell, 2002. "Enterprise Restructuring in Transition: A Quantitative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 739-792, September.
    5. Goldhaber, Dan & Choi, Hyung-Jai & Cramer, Lauren, 2007. "A descriptive analysis of the distribution of NBPTS-certified teachers in North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 160-172, April.
    6. 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, March.
    7. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Nathaniel Hilger & Emmanuel Saez & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach & Danny Yagan, 2011. "How Does Your Kindergarten Classroom Affect Your Earnings? Evidence from Project Star," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1593-1660.
    8. 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.
    9. Caroline Minter Hoxby, 1996. "How Teachers' Unions Affect Education Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 671-718.
    10. Katharine O. Strunk, 2011. "Are Teachers' Unions Really to Blame? Collective Bargaining Agreements and Their Relationships with District Resource Allocation and Student Performance in California," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(3), pages 354-398, July.
    11. Jon Nelson & Peter Kennedy, 2009. "The Use (and Abuse) of Meta-Analysis in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: An Assessment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 42(3), pages 345-377, March.
    12. West, Kristine Lamm & Mykerezi, Elton, 2011. "Teachers' unions and compensation: The impact of collective bargaining on salary schedules and performance pay schemes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 99-108, February.
    13. Steven G. Allen, 1986. "Unionization and Productivity in Office Building and School Construction," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 39(2), pages 187-201, January.
    14. Stephen B. Jarrell & T. D. Stanley, 1990. "A Meta-Analysis of the Union-Nonunion Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 44(1), pages 54-67, October.
    15. David B. Lipsky & John E. Drotning, 1973. "The Influence of Collective Bargaining on Teachers' Salaries in New York State," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 27(1), pages 18-35, October.
    16. Freeman, Richard B, 1986. "Unionism Comes to the Public Sector," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 41-86, March.
    17. 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.
    18. Clotfelter, Charles T. & Ladd, Helen F. & Vigdor, Jacob, 2005. "Who teaches whom? Race and the distribution of novice teachers," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 377-392, August.
    19. Peter Dolton & Martin Robson, 1996. "Trade Union Concentration and the Determination of Wages: The Case of Teachers in England and Wales," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 34(4), pages 539-555, December.
    20. Moore, William J & Raisian, John, 1987. "Union-N onunion Wage Differentials in the Public Administration, Educational, and Private Sectors: 1970-1983," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(4), pages 608-616, November.
    21. Hirschel Kasper, 1970. "The Effects of Collective Bargaining on Public School Teachers' Salaries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 24(1), pages 57-72, October.
    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. W. Robert Reed, 2020. "A Note on the Use of Partial Correlation Coefficients in Meta-Analyses," Working Papers in Economics 20/08, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    2. Jianhua Duan & Kuntal K. Das & Laura Meriluoto & W. Robert Reed, 2019. "Spillovers and Exports: A Meta-Analysis," Working Papers in Economics 19/03, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Corey A. DeAngelis & Christos Makridis, 2021. "Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Union Influence?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2266-2284, September.
    4. Anthony Doucouliagos & Hristos Doucouliagos & T. D. Stanley, 2024. "Power and bias in industrial relations research," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 3-27, March.
    5. Jianhua Duan & Kuntal K. Das & Laura Meriluoto & W. Robert Reed, 2020. "Estimating the effect of spillovers on exports: a meta-analysis," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(2), pages 219-249, May.

    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. Cowen, Joshua M. & Strunk, Katharine O., 2015. "The impact of teachers’ unions on educational outcomes: What we know and what we need to learn," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 208-223.
    2. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. 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.
    4. Eunice S. Han, 2020. "The Myth of Unions’ Overprotection of Bad Teachers: Evidence from the District–Teacher Matched Data on Teacher Turnover," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 316-352, April.
    5. Corey A. DeAngelis & Christos Makridis, 2021. "Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Union Influence?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2266-2284, September.
    6. 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.
    7. Kristine L. West, 2015. "Teachers’ Unions, Compensation, and Tenure," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 294-320, April.
    8. Terry M. Moe, 2009. "Collective Bargaining and The Performance of the Public Schools," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 156-174, January.
    9. Shi, Ying & Singleton, John D., 2019. "Expertise and Independence on Governing Boards: Evidence from School Districts," IZA Discussion Papers 12414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. 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.
    11. Marianno, Bradley D. & Strunk, Katharine O., 2018. "The bad end of the bargain?: Revisiting the relationship between collective bargaining agreements and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 93-106.
    12. John V. Winters, 2011. "Teacher Salaries and Teacher Unions: A Spatial Econometric Approach," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(4), pages 747-764, July.
    13. Feiveson, Laura, 2015. "General revenue sharing and public sector unions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 28-45.
    14. Lyon, Melissa Arnold, 2021. "Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    15. Brunner, Eric J. & Squires, Tim, 2013. "The bargaining power of teachers’ unions and the allocation of school resources," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 15-27.
    16. Cook, Jason & Lavertu, Stéphane & Miller, Corbin, 2021. "Rent-Seeking through collective bargaining: Teachers unions and education production☆," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. Bradley D. Marianno & Paul Bruno & Kathrine O. Strunk, 2021. "The Effect of Teachers’ Union Contracts on School District Efficiency: Longitudinal Evidence From California," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, February.
    18. Rebecca Diamond, 2017. "Housing Supply Elasticity and Rent Extraction by State and Local Governments," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 74-111, February.
    19. Anghel, Brindusa & de la Rica, Sara. & Dolado, Juan José, 2011. "The Effect of Public Sector Employment on Women’s Labour Martket Outcomes," Working Papers 2011-08, FEDEA.
    20. Baron, E. Jason, 2018. "The Effect of Teachers’ Unions on Student Achievement in the Short Run: Evidence from Wisconsin’s Act 10," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 40-57.
    21. Cassandra M.D. Hart & Aaron J. Sojourner, 2015. "Unionization and Productivity: Evidence from Charter Schools," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 422-448, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

    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:bla:coecpo:v:36:y:2018:i:1:p:93-115. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.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.