How international trade affects union wages: New evidence

We reexamine the effect of import competition on union wages using the NBER Industry Data for Imports and Exports by SIC category 1987– 1994 (Feenstra, 1996). We find that the effect of import share on union wage levels and wage growth is zero by the end of the twelve-year period covering 1983– 1994. These results suggest that although import competition initially reduced union wages in the late 1970s and early 1980s, by 1987 union wages were largely unaffected by import competition. Apparently, the diminished import effect results from increased union strength over the period, particularly in highly organized industries. The authors appreciate the comments of Barry T. Hirsch and Wm. S. Mounts. David Macpherson aided in the development of our CPS data sets.     

How the birth of a child affects involvement with stepchildren

This study investigates the effect of childbearing on parental involvement in stepfamilies and intact families, based on the reports of 1,905 stepparents and biological parents from the National Survey of Families and Households. Regression analysis indicates that involvement with children declines over time, especially among respondents with only stepchildren in the household. Respondents who have had a child between waves of the survey reduce parental involvement at a slower rate than respondents who did not have a child. These effects are explained by the children's age. The birth of a child has a similar effect on parental involvement in stepfamilies and intact families. These findings suggest that the addition of a half‐sibling is not particularly beneficial to stepchildren and provides further evidence that couples with children from prior relationships should not make the decision to reproduce to “cement” stepfamily bonds.     

The impact of labor shortage on the employee commitment

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the impact of the shortage of labor on individuals’ workplace attitudes, strangely their commitment. It is beneficial for organizations to develop their management strategies in view of employees’ loyalty attitudes. As a conceptual paper, the article contains a theoretical deduction. The characteristics of the labor market (macro level), the organizational needs and responses (meso level), and the set of the employees’ commitment (micro level) are linked to a theoretical process. According to our results, the average levels of the different dimensions of employee commitment will be changed in the future. The levels of continuance commitment and professional commitment will be higher, while the levels of deliberate commitment and affective commitment will be lower in the employee commitment profiles. By increasing continuance commitment and professional commitment, the toolkit of the HR strategy needs to be transformed to make it more relevant external motivation tools and training-development solutions. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the interactions among the employees will be less frequent and they will have less affection for their workplace. Labor shortage transforms individuals’ workplace attitudes. Understanding of employees’ decisions to maintain their organizational membership is supported by the relationships found in this research.     

Variables related to patterns of union Stewards’ commitment

This article examines whether the union and employer commitment of stewards can be predicted by the same antecedent factors and whether any o f those factors are related to dual or unilateral commitment. It modifies a conceptual framework of organizational commitment to recognize the presence of a union and then applies that framework to both union and employer commitment. The analysis found that the predictors of union and employer commitment were mostly different, and structural characteristics of the union, employer, and work significantly differentiated between stewards with high and low dual commitment and between standards with high and low unilateral commitment.     

How employee empowerment influences organization–employee relationship in China

The current study examines how employees’ perceptions of empowerment impact the quality of the organization–employee relationship. Based on the on-line survey of 223 employees from a variety of companies in China, both dimensions of employee empowerment—feelings of competence and feelings of control—serve as positive predictors for organization–employee relationship. However, employees’ feelings of control wield more weight in the prediction than do feelings of competence.     

Roads and roadblocks to dual commitment: Similar and dissimilar antecedents of union and company commitment

Dual commitment received wide attention during the 1950s and, after a waning of interest during the 1960s and 1970s, interest has grown anew. In this study of dual commitment we used a model of investment and returns, applied referent theory to it, and grounded the investigation in an industrial relations context at an airline carrier in order to examine both company and union commitment. We found that wages were a positive income elastic good with respect to company commitment, but they were a negative good with respect to union commitment. Information obtained from the firm or the union also resulted in divergencies in the commitments. External labor market variables were unrelated to union commitment, but they were related to company commitment. Finally, job influence and perceptions concerning a labor-management program were positive predictors of the two commitments; as such, they have implications for the way firms and unions may want to build dual commitment. We thank Peter Cappelli, Fritz Drasgow, Peter Feuille, Greg Oldham, Lawrence T. Pinfield, and Dean Tjosvold for helpful comments.     

How union mergers affect membership participation

Using data from a survey of union members, we explore how an amalgamation of two Swedish unions affects membership participation. The research literature on the topic is mostly anecdotal and speculative, suggesting that mergers might have detrimental effects on membership participation because they create large unions with centralized governance and administration. But in this study, we do not find a broad-based decline in membership participation measured before and after merger as well as in relation to a comparison union that did not merge. These results are discussed in terms of the national context of union mergers in Sweden and the ways that mergers are negotiated, presented, and implemented to preserve membership participation. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Third International Conference on Emerging Union Structures: Reshaping Labour Market Institutions, Canberra, Australia in December 1997. The data collection for this project was supported by funds from the National Institute for Working Life in Stockholm.     

The causes of union political involvement: A longitudinal analysis

This study examines the political involvement of unions over the 1978, 1980, and 1982 congressional elections. An empirical model focusing on the campaign contributions made by unions and the number of registered lobbyists employed by unions is elaborated and tested. The findings suggest that unions’ political activities are systematically undertaken and that they have increased dramatically over the past three elections. Specific characteristics of unions, such as membership size and dependence on governmental regulations, directly affect the political involvement of unions. Further, given the current economic and political climate, it is likely that this political action will continue to increase. The authors are grateful to Jack Fiorito, Cynthia Gramm, David Lewin, Frank Lichtenberg, two anonymous referees, and the participants in the labor seminars at the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa for helpful comments on an earlier version of this study.     

Self-interests and group-interests in employee involvement programs: A case study

What happens in a unionized setting when a participatory management system is adopted? This question is examined based on a field study of a union manufacturing facility that has been operating under a gainsharing system for four years. As suggested by the political science literature on transforming political systems from authoritarian rule to democracies, the events resemble a complicated chess game among management, union officers, and union members pursuing their self-interests or group-interests during and after the transitional process. Although gainsharing bonuses have been minimal, the democratization of organizational structures and relationships has generated multiple beneficial organizational and individual outcomes for management and union members.     

Mutual gains? labor and management evaluate their employee involvement programs

This study examines the impact of employee involvement programs on social, psychological, production, and economic issues. The findings are based on a diverse group of 236 EI programs in Pennsylvania, where data were gathered from both management and labor in the same workplace. The majority of the programs are based on a quality circle model; few contain innovative pay systems; and less than one third could be classified as intensive. Management indicates that these programs have a positive impact on a variety of factors, especially social and psychological effects. Unions are less enthusiastic about EI but are generally positive or neutral, with few indicating any negative effects. Despite these generally positive reports by both labor and management, direct comparison yields little agreement between labor and management on the effects of EI. Our results question the assumption of “mutual gains,” i.e., that the effects of EI programs are clear, public, and shared equally by both labor and management. Alternative explanations are discussed. This research was conducted with grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and the Pennsylvania MILRITE Committee. The views expressed, however, are solely those of the authors.     

How pension accrual affects job satisfaction

Using a sample of 429 employees in a large, unionized public utility company in Canada, we examine the incentive effects of a final-earnings pension plan on employees’ job satisfaction. Contrary to rational economic expectations, job satisfaction is found negatively related to expected accruals under the pension plan. Satisfaction was also lower among those who perceived a higher likelihood of being declared redundant, had better nonmarket alternatives, and who viewed conflictual approaches as most effective in resolving prior disputes at work. Conversely, employees who perceived greater support for employer-sponsored training, perceived such training to be effective, and believed cooperative approaches to dispute resolution worked best, were more satisfied. Implications for pension theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

How to foster employee quality of life: The role of employee performance management and authentic leadership

Although employee performance management (EPM) enhances performance, the effects that these systems have on employee quality of life remain unclear. Such information is particularly relevant for ‘vulnerable’ workers, whose employment situation has the potential to alter their social and economic position in life. Based on data gathered from 111 leaders and 547 vulnerable workers in 36 social profit organizations, multilevel regression analysis demonstrates that EPM is related to vulnerable workers’ quality of life. Moreover, authentic leadership and psychological empowerment buffer the negative relationship between EPM and vulnerable workers’ quality of life. These findings imply that organizations that employ vulnerable workers need authentic leaders to foster a positive impact not only on performance through EPM but also on vulnerable workers’ quality of life. In addition, organizations can also pursue vulnerable workers’ psychological empowerment by providing tasks that are meaningful to them and in which they experience self-efficacy to reduce the potential negative effects of EPM on vulnerable workers’ quality of life.     

How age discrimination in employment affects stockholders

We analyze the impact on stock prices, and thus on stockholders, of 84 newspaper announcements regarding corporate age discrimination lawsuits. We find that, on average, initial announcements cause a 2 percent decline in stock price, a $40 million average loss in total stock value for the large firms charged. The stock price decreases are consistent with investor concerns about the firms’ ability to attract and retain good employees given the discrimination charges. Though age discrimination in employment is a pervasive and growing problem, such findings may discourage managers from engaging in discriminatory practices. The authors thank Jane Blank and Malcolm Matthew for helpful comments. This research was supported by a University of Windsor Research Board Grant.     

Uncertain lies: How payoff uncertainty affects dishonesty

In this paper we experimentally explore how lying changes when its consequences are not certain. We argue that, when consequences are not certain, lying is morally less costly because the action of lying does not mechanically result in the obtainment of the benefit and this produces a lower feeling of responsibility in case the benefit is obtained. Moreover, we argue that the smaller the impact of lying on the probability to obtain the benefit the lower is the feeling of responsibility. We test our predictions using a modified die-under-the-cup task where misreporting, rather than delivering a higher payoff, increases the likelihood to get a prize. Overall we have four treatments where the reported outcome affects the probability to get a prize to a different extent. Contrary to our prediction, we do not observe any treatment difference suggesting that lying is independent to the extent to which it increases the probability to get a benefit. This result suggests that the willingness to lie to secure a benefit and the willingness to lie to marginally increase the probability to obtain a benefit are very similar.     

How race affects dismissals of college football coaches

We employ a discretetime hazard model and a Blinder-decomposition approach to explore the possibility of racial discrimination in the dismissal and retention of college football coaches by university administrations. A rich data set consisting of 81 institutions over an 11-year period (1990–2000) that contains, in addition to a coach's race, variables on cumulative winning records, annual on-the-field improvements, and pre-/post-season game participation by institutions and their coaches is employed. Our study finds that black coaches, on average, face a dismissal probability that is 9.6 percentage points below that of their nonblack counterparts, ceteris paribus, suggesting that black head coaches may be the beneficiaries of favorable treatment by university administrators. Such a result likely stems from universities ' approach to social concerns involving race and gender issues. This finding also fits a construct that considers workplace discrimination as multi-dimensional. For example, black representation in the college football coaching ranks may be disproportionately low, possibly as a result of discrimination. However, once hired, black coaches are given more time to succeed than nonblacks, other things constant.     

How employee assistance programs determine service utilization: A survey and recommendations

A survey of Employee Assistance Programs investigated how utilization of services was quantified. Many inconsistencies were found. Few programs reported a penetration rate, and each one that did used a different formula. A model is presented to deal with these problems.