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Do Right-to-Work Laws Work? Evidence on Individuals’ Well-Being and Economic Sentiment

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  • Christos Andreas Makridis

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of state right-to-work (RTW) laws on individuals’ well-being and economic sentiment. Using licensed microdata from Gallup between 2008 and 2017, this paper finds that the adoption of RTW laws is associated with a .029 SD and a .041 SD increase in individuals’ life satisfaction and economic sentiment, respectively. A difference-in-differences estimator suggests that these improvements are concentrated among union workers. These results are robust to entropy balancing and border-pair approaches. Moreover, these improvements in well-being are consistent with an increase in competition among unions, which prompts them to provide higher-quality services that are valued by their members.

Suggested Citation

  • Christos Andreas Makridis, 2019. "Do Right-to-Work Laws Work? Evidence on Individuals’ Well-Being and Economic Sentiment," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(4), pages 713-745.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/707081
    DOI: 10.1086/707081
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    Cited by:

    1. Kyung-nok Chun, 2023. "What do Right-to-Work Laws do to Unions? Evidence from Six Recently-Enacted RTW Laws," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 94-144, June.
    2. Nguyen, Justin Hung & Qiu, Buhui, 2022. "Right-to-Work laws and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Gihleb, Rania & Giuntella, Osea & Tan, Jian Qi, 2023. "The Impact of Right-to-Work Laws on Long Hours and Work Schedules," IZA Discussion Papers 16588, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Deb, P.; & Norton, E.C.; & Wooldridge, J.M.; & Zabel, J.E.;, 2024. "A Flexible, Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Difference-in-Differences Estimator for Repeated Cross-Sections," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 24/17, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.

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