IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/45.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Firm Size and Union Threat Effects across Genders: Evidence from NLSY79

Author

Listed:
  • Wunnava, Phanindra V.

Abstract

It is evident that both male and female workers in medium/larger establishments receive not only higher wages but also have a higher probability of participating in benefit programs than those in smaller establishments. This reinforces the well-documented ‘size’ effect. Further, the firm size wage effects are much larger for men than women. The union wage effect decreases with establishment size for both genders. This supports the argument that large nonunion firms pay higher wages to discourage the entrance of unions (i.e., the ‘threat’ effect argument). In addition, the union wage premium is higher for males across firm sizes relative to females. This implies that unions in the large establishments may have a role to play in achieving a narrowing of the gender union wage gap. Further, given the presence of noticeable gender differences in estimated union effects on the different components of the compensation structure, unions should not treat both genders similarly with respect to wages and benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2017. "Firm Size and Union Threat Effects across Genders: Evidence from NLSY79," GLO Discussion Paper Series 45, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:45
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/156390/1/GLO_DP_0045.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dunn, L F, 1986. "Work Disutility and Compensating Differentials: Estimation of Factors in the Link between Wages and Firm Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 68(1), pages 67-73, February.
    2. Walter Y. Oi & Todd L. Idson, 1999. "Workers Are More Productive in Large Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 104-108, May.
    3. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2005. "Why do large firms pay higher wages? evidence from matched worker-firm data," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/8743, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. William E. Even & David A. Macpherson, 1993. "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(2), pages 279-296.
    5. Paula B. Voos, 1983. "Union Organizing: Costs and Benefits," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 36(4), pages 576-591, July.
    6. Ronald L. Oaxaca, 1975. "Estimation of Union/Nonunion Wage Differentials within Occupational/Regional Subgroups," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 10(4), pages 529-537.
    7. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    8. David S. Evans & Linda S. Leighton, 1989. "Why Do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(2), pages 299-318.
    9. Kenneth R. Troske, 1999. "Evidence On The Employer Size-Wage Premium From Worker-Establishment Matched Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 15-26, February.
    10. Masters, Stanley H, 1969. "An Interindustry Analysis of Wages and Plant Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(3), pages 341-345, August.
    11. Rene Morissette, 1993. "Canadian Jobs and Firm Size: Do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 159-174, February.
    12. Campbell, Carl M, III, 1993. "Do Firms Pay Efficiency Wages? Evidence with Data at the Firm Level," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(3), pages 442-470, July.
    13. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2007. "The establishment-size wage premium: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(5), pages 427-451, December.
    14. Parsley, C J, 1980. "Labor Union Effects on Wage Gains: A Survey of Recent Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-31, March.
    15. Robinson, Michael D. & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 1991. "Plant size, tenure, and discrimination in internal labor markets : Evidence on sex differentials," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 197-202, June.
    16. Freeman, Richard B & Medoff, James L, 1982. "Substitution between Production Labor and Other Inputs in Unionized and Nonunionized Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 220-233, May.
    17. Mellow, Wesley, 1982. "Employer Size and Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(3), pages 495-501, August.
    18. Magnus Allgulin & Tore Ellingsen, 2002. "Monitoring and Pay," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(2), pages 201-216, Part.
    19. Alan B. Krueger, 1991. "Ownership, Agency, and Wages: An Examination of Franchising in the Fast Food Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 106(1), pages 75-101.
    20. Luis Garicano & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2006. "Organization and Inequality in a Knowledge Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 121(4), pages 1383-1435.
    21. Roberto Pedace, 2010. "Firm Size-Wage Premiums: Using Employer Data to Unravel the Mystery," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 163-182.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    size effect; threat effect; fringe benefits; compensation; gender; union-nonunion; random effects;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

    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:zbw:glodps:45. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/glaboea.html .

    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 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.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.