IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v54y2023i2p132-149.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The union default: Effects and implications of regulated opting‐out

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Harcourt
  • Gregor Gall
  • Margaret Wilson

Abstract

A union default would automatically enrol workers in a union with bargaining coverage over their work. Though there would be a right to opt‐out, it would facilitate recruitment and retention of members, especially in sectors with small employers and high staff turnover. Research indicates it would receive majority support and, where available, induce most workers to membership of unions. This study looks at whether two potential features of a union default would influence the intention to remain a union member if defaulted or support for a union default. The first is a mandatory 30‐day waiting period until opt‐out is permitted. The second is a standardised, online process to facilitate opting out.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Margaret Wilson, 2023. "The union default: Effects and implications of regulated opting‐out," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 132-149, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:2:p:132-149
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12394
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12394?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. Henry S Farber & Daniel Herbst & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1325-1385.
    2. Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Nisha Novell & Margaret Wilson, 2021. "Boosting Union Membership: Reconciling Liberal and Social Democratic Conceptions of Freedom of Association via a Union Default," Industrial Law Journal, Industrial Law Society, vol. 50(3), pages 375-404.
    3. Mélanie Dufour-Poirier & Mélanie Laroche, 2015. "Revitalising young workers' union participation: a comparative analysis of two organisations in Quebec (Canada)," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 418-433, November.
    4. David Card, 2001. "The Effect of Unions on Wage Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 296-315, January.
    5. Mark Harcourt & Helen Lam & Richard Croucher, 2015. "The right-to-manage default rule," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 222-235, May.
    6. Andy Hodder & Lefteris Kretsos, 2015. "Young Workers and Unions: Context and Overview," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Andy Hodder & Lefteris Kretsos (ed.), Young Workers and Trade Unions, chapter 1, pages 1-15, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Jung, Janice Y. & Mellers, Barbara A., 2016. "American attitudes toward nudges," Judgment and Decision Making, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 62-74, January.
    8. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:62-74 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Huang, Qianqian & Jiang, Feng & Lie, Erik & Que, Tingting, 2017. "The Effect of Labor Unions on CEO Compensation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 553-582, April.
    10. Janice Y. Jung & Barbara A. Mellers, 2016. "American attitudes toward nudges," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(1), pages 62-74, January.
    11. VanHeuvelen, Tom & Brady, David, 2022. "Labor Unions and American Poverty," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 75(4), pages 891-917.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Margaret Wilson, 2024. "The union default: Free‐riding solutions," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 267-284, July.
    2. Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Margaret Wilson, 2023. "The effects of public goods framing for a union default policy," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(4), pages 1197-1221, November.
    3. Bustos, Emil, 2024. "Collectively Bargained Wages and Female Earnings: Evidence from Swedish Local Governments," Working Paper Series 1494, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    4. Carlo Medici, 2024. "Closing Ranks: Organized Labor and Immigration," CESifo Working Paper Series 11437, CESifo.
    5. Kilman, Josefin, 2020. "Monetary Policy and Income Inequality in the United States: The Role of Labor Unions," Working Papers 2020:10, Lund University, Department of Economics, revised 20 Sep 2022.
    6. Elin Svarstad, 2024. "Do unions care about low‐paid workers? Evidence from Norway," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 417-441, October.
    7. Lagos, Lorenzo, 2024. "Union Bargaining Power and the Amenity-Wage Tradeoff," IZA Discussion Papers 17034, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Susan HAYTER & Jelle VISSER, 2021. "Making collective bargaining more inclusive: The role of extension," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(2), pages 169-195, June.
    9. Bozio, Antoine & Breda, Thomas & Guillot, Malka, 2023. "Using payroll taxes as a redistribution tool," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    10. Benjamin W. Arold & Elliott Ash & W. Bentley MacLeod & Suresh Naidu, 2025. "The Value of Worker Rights in Collective Bargaining," NBER Working Papers 33605, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Saito, Takashi & Matsuura, Tsukasa & Okamoto, Hisashi, 2024. "Labor union effects on wage dispersion: Evidence from panel data of Japanese listed companies," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    12. Kirill Borusyak & Matan Kolerman-Shemer, 2024. "Regression discontinuity aggregation, with an application to the union effects on inequality," Papers 2501.00428, arXiv.org.
    13. Brändle, Tobias, 2024. "Unions and Collective Bargaining: The Influence on Wages, Employment and Firm Survival," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1457, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. R. Alison Felix & James R. Hines, 2022. "Corporate taxes and union wages in the United States," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1450-1494, December.
    15. Arold, B. W. & Ash, E. & MacLeod, W. B. & Naidu, S., 2025. "The Value of Worker Rights in Collective Bargaining," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2517, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    16. Sezer, Ayse Hazal, 2023. "Convicts and Comrades : Coerced Labor’s Impact on Early Labor Unions," Other publications TiSEM 98f91e6a-8e47-4c1f-bc84-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Checchi, Daniele & Visser, Jelle & van de Werfhorst, Herman G., 2007. "Inequality and Union Membership: The Impact of Relative Earnings Position and Inequality Attitudes," IZA Discussion Papers 2691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Patrick Mellacher, 2021. "Growth, Inequality and Declining Business Dynamism in a Unified Schumpeter Mark I + II Model," Papers 2111.09407, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    19. Rabensteiner, Thomas & Guschanski, Alexander, 2022. "Autonomy and wage divergence: evidence from European survey data," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 37925, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    20. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2022. "Wage Flexibility under Sectoral Bargaining," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(5), pages 2013-2061.

    More about this item

    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:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:2:p:132-149. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    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.