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Vulnerable Seniors: Unions, Tenure, and Wages Following Permanent Job Loss

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  • Kuhn, Peter
  • Sweetman, Arthur

Abstract

In contrast to nonunion workers, reemployment wages of workers displaced from unionized jobs decline with tenure on the lost job. This finding cannot easily be explained by firm- or industry-specific human capital accumulation, deferred-pay policies, standard matching models, or a correlation between tenure and reentry rates into unionized jobs. Possible explanations include negative selection of senior union workers and a negative causal effect of unionism on workers' alternative skills. Despite a much flatter predisplacement tenure-wage profile, displaced union workers' wage losses increase with tenure at a rate comparable to or higher than those of nonunion workers. Copyright 1999 by University of Chicago Press.

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  • Kuhn, Peter & Sweetman, Arthur, 1999. "Vulnerable Seniors: Unions, Tenure, and Wages Following Permanent Job Loss," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(4), pages 671-693, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:17:y:1999:i:4:p:671-93
    DOI: 10.1086/209935
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    Cited by:

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    2. Peter Haan & Michal Myck, 2009. "Dynamics of Poor Health and Non-employment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 195, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Centeno, Mário & Corrêa, Márcio, 2010. "Job matching, technological progress, and worker-provided on-the-job training," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 190-192, December.
    4. Nicholas Lawson, 2011. "Is Collective Bargaining Pareto Efficient? A Survey of the Literature," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 282-304, September.
    5. Kristina Nyström & Gulzat Zhetibaeva Elvung, 2015. "New Firms as Employers: The Wage Penalty for Voluntary and Involuntary Job Switchers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 348-366, December.
    6. David A. Green & Thomas Lemieux, 2008. "The impact of unionization on the incidence of and sources of payment for training in Canada," Studies in Empirical Economics, in: Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Stephen Machin (ed.), The Economics of Education and Training, pages 267-291, Springer.
    7. Burdin, Gabriel & Garcia-Louzao, Jose, 2023. "Employee-Owned Firms and the Careers of Young Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 15880, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Anja Deelen, 2011. "Wage-Tenure Profiles and Mobility," CPB Discussion Paper 198, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Paul Hek & Daniel Vuuren, 2011. "Are older workers overpaid? A literature review," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(4), pages 436-460, August.
    10. Till von Wachter & Elizabeth Handwerker & Andrew Hildreth, 2009. "Estimating the "True" Cost of Job Loss: Evidence Using Matched Data from Califormia 1991-2000," Working Papers 09-14, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    11. Goldmann, Gustave & Sweetman, Arthur & Warman, Casey, 2009. "The Economic Return on New Immigrants' Human Capital: the Impact of Occupational Matching," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-30, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Apr 2009.
    12. José M. Arranz & Carlos García‐Serrano & María A. Davia, 2010. "Worker Turnover And Wages In Europe: The Influence Of Unemployment And Inactivity," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 78(6), pages 678-701, December.

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