IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/canjec/v37y2004i1p28-52a.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unions without rents: the curious economics of faculty unions

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur J. Hosios
  • Aloysius Siow

Abstract

. We show that Canadian faculty unions have had no effect on university revenues, only a small positive effect on earnings, a negative effect on research output, and lead to earnings redistributions across disciplines and ranks. We argue that faculty unions have a negligible positive (and often negative) effect on average faculty wages, because a union that promotes the median faculty member's welfare negotiates wage redistributions and more onerous teaching conditions, despite the negative impact these changes have on research output. Average wages may rise, but only because non‐unionized universities trade off wages against the non‐pecuniary benefits from research and teaching. JEL classification: I20, J51, J54 Syndicats sans rentes: l’économie singulière des syndicats de professeurs d’université. Les auteurs montrent que les syndicats canadiens de professeurs d’université n’ont pas eu d’effet sur les revenus des universités, ont eu seulement un petit effet positif sur les gains, un effet négatif sur la production de recherche, et qu’ils ont entraîné une redistribution des gains entre disciplines et entre les professeurs de divers rangs. On suggère que les syndicats de professeurs ont eu un effet négligeable (positif mais souvent négatif) sur le salaire moyen des professeurs parce qu’un syndicat qui s’attache à promouvoir le mieux‐être du professeur médian négocie des redistributions de salaires et des tâches d’enseignement plus lourdes même si ces changements ont un effet négatif sur la production de résultats de recherche. Les salaires moyens peuvent croître mais seulement parce que les universités non‐syndiquées négocient des avantages non‐ pécuniaires portant sur la recherche et l’enseignement en compensation pour des salaires moindres.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur J. Hosios & Aloysius Siow, 2004. "Unions without rents: the curious economics of faculty unions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 28-52, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:37:y:2004:i:1:p:28-52:a
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0008-4085.2003.0002.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0008-4085.2003.0002.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.0008-4085.2003.0002.x?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas H. Blair & David L. Crawford, 1984. "Labor Union Objectives and Collective Bargaining," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(3), pages 547-566.
    2. James Monks, 2000. "Unionization and Faculty Salaries: New Evidence from the 1990s," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 21(2), pages 305-314, April.
    3. Chamberlain, Gary, 1982. "Multivariate regression models for panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 5-46, January.
    4. Grossman, Gene M, 1983. "Union Wages, Temporary Layoffs, and Seniority," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 277-290, June.
    5. Card, David, 1996. "The Effect of Unions on the Structure of Wages: A Longitudinal Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(4), pages 957-979, July.
    6. Jacob Mincer, 1981. "Union Effects: Wages, Turnover, and Job Training," NBER Working Papers 0808, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Kuhn, Peter, 1988. "A Nonuniform Pricing Model of Union Wages and Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(3), pages 473-508, June.
    8. Robinson, Chris, 1989. "The Joint Determination of Union Status and Union Wage Effects: Some Tests of Alternative Models," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 639-667, June.
    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. James B. Davies & Martin G. Kocher & Matthias Sutter, 2008. "Economics research in Canada: a long-run assessment of journal publications," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 41(1), pages 22-45, February.
    2. Casey Warman & Frances Woolley & Christopher Worswick, 2010. "The evolution of male‐female earnings differentials in Canadian universities,1970–2001," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 347-372, February.
    3. Felice Martinello, 2006. "University Revenues and Faculty Salaries in Ontario: 1970/71­2003/04," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 32(4), pages 349-372, December.
    4. Felice Martinello, 2009. "Faculty Salaries in Ontario: Compression, Inversion, and the Effects of Alternative Forms of Representation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(1), pages 128-145, October.
    5. Schenk, Tom, Jr., 2007. "The effects of graduate-student unionization," ISU General Staff Papers 2007010108000015881, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Steven Henson & John Krieg & Charles Wassell & David Hedrick, 2012. "Collective Bargaining and Community College Faculty: What Is the Wage Impact?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 104-117, March.
    7. David W. Hedrick & Steven E. Henson & John M. Krieg & Charles S. Wassell Jr., 2011. "Is There Really a Faculty Union Salary Premium?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(3), pages 558-575, April.
    8. Joel Waldfogel, 2016. "Faculty Preferences over Unionization: Evidence from Open Letters at Two Research Universities," NBER Working Papers 22149, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Stephen R. Porter, 2013. "The Causal Effect of Faculty Unions on Institutional Decision-Making," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(5), pages 1192-1211, October.

    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. Arthur J. Hosios & Aloysius Siow, 2004. "Unions without rents: the curious economics of faculty unions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 28-52, February.
    2. Tavneet Suri, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Working Papers 944, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    3. 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.
    4. Hiroyuki Ozaki & Peter A. Streufert, 2001. "Solutions For Some Dynamic Problems With Uncertainty Aversion," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 251-283, September.
    5. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01cc08hf62w is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Tavneet Suri, 2009. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," NBER Working Papers 15346, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Walsh, Frank, 2013. "The union wage effect and ability bias: Evidence from Ireland," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 296-298.
    8. Wang, Wen & Lien, Donald, 2018. "Union membership, union coverage and wage dispersion of rural migrants: Evidence from Suzhou industrial sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 96-113.
    9. Renström, Thomas I. & Roszbach, Kasper, 1995. "Trade unions, employee share ownership and wage setting: A supply-side approach to the share economy," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 65, Stockholm School of Economics.
    10. Edward J. Schumacher, "undated". "What Explains Union Membership Contract Coverage Wage Differentials?," Working Papers 9719, East Carolina University, Department of Economics.
    11. 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.
    12. Oscar Landerretche & Nicolás Lillo & Esteban Puentes, 2013. "The Union Effect on Wages in Chile: A Two-Stage Approach Using Panel Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(2), pages 164-191, June.
    13. Changhui Kang, 2003. "Union Wage Effect: New Evidence From Matched Employer-Employee Data," Departmental Working Papers wp0302, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics.
    14. Barry T. Hirsch, 2004. "Reconsidering Union Wage Effects: Surveying New Evidence on an Old Topic," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(2), pages 233-266, April.
    15. Lemieux, Thomas, 1998. "Estimating the Effects of Unions on Wage Inequality in a Panel Data Model with Comparative Advantage and Nonrandom Selection," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(2), pages 261-291, April.
    16. Bernd Fitzenberger & Karsten Kohn & Alexander C. Lembcke, 2013. "Union Density and Varieties of Coverage: The Anatomy of Union Wage Effects in Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(1), pages 169-197, January.
    17. Michael P. Keane & Robert M. Sauer, 2009. "Classification Error in Dynamic Discrete Choice Models: Implications for Female Labor Supply Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 975-991, May.
    18. Sung Jae Jun & Yoonseok Lee & Youngki Shin, 2016. "Treatment Effects With Unobserved Heterogeneity: A Set Identification Approach," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 302-311, April.
    19. Gittleman, Maury & Pierce, Brooks, 2007. "New estimates of union wage effects in the U.S," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 198-202, May.
    20. Thomas Lemieux, 1993. "Unions and Wage Inequality in Canada and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States, pages 69-108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Suri, Tavneet, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Center Discussion Papers 28445, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms

    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:wly:canjec:v:37:y:2004:i:1:p:28-52:a. 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://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5982 .

    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.