IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/aarcls/2001_007.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Assymetries in Union Relative Wage Effects in Ghanian Manufacturing - An analysis Applying Quantile Regressions

Author

Listed:
  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo

    (Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Aarhus School of Business)

  • Verner, Dorthe

    (Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Aarhus School of Business)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the earnings determinants in the Ghanian manufacturing industries, focussing on the impact of unions in terms of the so-called "union relative wage effect" and the possible asymmetries of this impact across the earnings distribution. We find evidence of a union relative wage effect ocurring via two distinct channels. First, we find a direct effect through individual union membership. This is the standard "union premium" well known from the empirical litterature on unions. Second, we find evidence of a spillover effect to non-union members. In addition, we find evidence of an additional union effect coming through via firm-specific training. We confirm our conjecture of an asymmetry in the union relative wage effect, unions mainly benefiting the lower end of the wage distribution. This is in line with previous research, which generally finds that unions increase income equality and reduce wage discrimination. Evaluating the non-union sub-sample using the estimated union wage structure further establishes the presence of structural differences between the union and non-union segments of the Ghanian manufacturing industry in that for given characteristics, a worker in the union sector earns more than a worker in the non-union sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo & Verner, Dorthe, 2001. "Assymetries in Union Relative Wage Effects in Ghanian Manufacturing - An analysis Applying Quantile Regressions," CLS Working Papers 01-7, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:aarcls:2001_007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cls.dk/workingpapers/docfiles/87.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. T. Paul Schultz & Germano Mwabu, 1998. "Labor Unions and the Distribution of Wages and Employment in South Africa," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 680-703, July.
    2. Velenchik, Ann D., 1997. "Government intervention, efficiency wages, and the employer size wage effect in Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 305-338, August.
    3. Booth,Alison L., 1994. "The Economics of the Trade Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521468398.
    4. Pencavel, John, 1995. "The role of labor unions in fostering economic development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1469, The World Bank.
    5. Moshe Buchinsky, 1998. "Recent Advances in Quantile Regression Models: A Practical Guideline for Empirical Research," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 88-126.
    6. Booth, Alison L & Francesconi, Marco & Zoega, Gylfi, 1999. "Training, Rent-Sharing and Unions," CEPR Discussion Papers 2200, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Rama,Martin G., 1998. "Wage misalignment in CFA countries: are labor market policies to blame?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1873, The World Bank.
    8. Booth, Alison L & Chatterji, Monojit, 1998. "Unions and Efficient Training," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 328-343, March.
    9. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1.
    10. Horton, Susan & Kanbur, Ravi & Mazumdar, Dipak, 1991. "Labor markets in an era of adjustment : an overview," Policy Research Working Paper Series 694, The World Bank.
    11. Standing, Guy, 1992. "Do Unions Impede or Accelerate Structural Adjustment? Industrial versus Company Unions in an Industrialising Labour Market," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 327-354, September.
    12. Panagides, Alexis & Patrinos, Harry Anthony & DEC, 1994. "Union - nonunion wage differentials in the developing world : a case study of Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1269, The World Bank.
    13. Maloney, William F. & Pontual Ribeiro, Eduardo, 1999. "Efficiency wage and union effects in labor demand and wage structure in Mexico - An application of quantile analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2131, The World Bank.
    14. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    15. Buchinsky, Moshe, 1995. "Estimating the asymptotic covariance matrix for quantile regression models a Monte Carlo study," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 303-338, August.
    16. Nelson, Joan M, 1991. "Organized Labor, Politics, and Labor Market Flexibility in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 6(1), pages 37-56, January.
    17. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Halvorsen, Robert & Palmquist, Raymond, 1980. "The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 474-475, June.
    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. Blunch, Niels-Hugo & Verner, Dorte, 2001. "Asymmetries in union relative wage effects in Ghanaian manufacturing - an analysis applying quantile regressions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2570, The World Bank.
    2. Nicolai Kristensen & Dorte Verner, 2008. "Labor Market Distortions in Côte d'Ivoire: Analyses of Employer‐Employee Data from the Manufacturing Sector," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 20(3), pages 343-377.
    3. Tushar Agrawal, 2011. "Returns to education in India: Some recent evidence," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2011-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    4. Verner, Dorte, 2005. "Activities, employment, and wages in rural and semi-urban Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3561, The World Bank.
    5. Verner, Dorte, 2008. "Making poor Haitians count--poverty in rural and urban Haiti based on the first household survey for Haiti," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4571, The World Bank.
    6. World Bank, 2007. "Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6836.
    7. Bruce Chapman & Mark Rodrigues & Chris Ryan, 2007. "HECS for TAFE: The case for extending income contingent loans," Treasury Working Papers 2007-02, The Treasury, Australian Government, revised Apr 2007.
    8. Zheng Fang & Chris Sakellariou, 2011. "A Case of Sticky Floors: Gender Wage Differentials in Thailand," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 35-54, March.
    9. Szilvia Hamori, 2005. "Comparative analysis of the returns to education in Germany and Hungary (2000)," Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market 0507, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    10. Pamela Giustinelli, 2004. "Quantile Regression Evidence on Italian Education Returns," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 94(6), pages 49-100, November-.
    11. Cho, Sungwook & Heshmati, Almas, 2013. "What If You Had Been Less Fortunate: The Effects of Poor Family Background on Current Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 7708, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Verner, Dorte, 2008. "Labor markets in rural and urban Haiti--based on the first household survey for Haiti," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4574, The World Bank.
    13. Stacy, Brian, 2014. "Left with Bias? Quantile Regression with Measurement Error in Left Hand Side Variables," EconStor Preprints 104744, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Verner, Dorte, 2006. "Labor markets and income generation in rural Argentina," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4095, The World Bank.
    15. Buchinsky, Moshe, 1995. "Quantile regression, Box-Cox transformation model, and the U.S. wage structure, 1963-1987," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 109-154, January.
    16. Verner, Dorte, 2005. "Wage determination in Northeast Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3548, The World Bank.
    17. Ulrich Reuter, 2006. "What Kind of Education Does China Need?: The Impact of Educational Attainment on Local Growth and Disparities," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-127, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Shweta Bahl & Ajay Sharma, 2021. "Education–Occupation Mismatch and Dispersion in Returns to Education: Evidence from India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 251-298, January.
    19. Theodore Koutmeridis, 2013. "The Market for "Rough Diamonds": Information, Finance and Wage Inequality," CDMA Working Paper Series 201307, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 14 Oct 2013.
    20. Pedro Telhado Pereira & Pedro Silva Martins, 2000. "Does education reduce wage inequality? Quantile regressions evidence from fifteen European countries," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp379, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Africa; Ghana; Human capital; Union relative wage effect; Quantile regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hhs:aarcls:2001_007. 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: Helle Vinbaek Stenholt (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hahoadk.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.