The determinants of union membership growth in Taiwan

This paper examines the determinants of intertemporal variation in the growth rate of trade union membership in Taiwan during 1960–1987. The empirical results indicate that the widely used empirical model of growth in trade union membership based largely on cyclical variables applies to the case of a newly industrialized Asian country—Taiwan.     

Patterns of union membership and relative wages

This paper, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, examines the effects of union membership on the wages of white males. The empirical relationship between current wage and union status is estimated controlling for union status in years before and after the current year. The resulting status profiles are four years long in contrast to one or two years used previously. Results indicate that wage changes experienced when workers join or leave unions vary significantly and systematically across these profiles. For example, a status change that appears to be long-term is associated with larger absolute wage changes than short-term changes in status. The authors thank Jeff Moore for comments and suggestions on an early draft of this paper and express special appreciation to John Raisian for his painstaking and valuable review of a recent draft. We are, of course, responsible for remaining errors.     

Determinants of union election outcomes in the non-hospital health care industry

Our research examines union election activity in the non-hospital health care industry over a 12-year period and shows that unions in this industry consistently win a greater percentage of their elections than their counterparts in either the hospital segment of the industry or other industries. Furthermore, the results indicate that several factors, primarily organizational characteristics, significantly affect the union victory rate.     

An empirical analysis of union election outcomes in the electric utility industry

Unions in the electric utility industry consistently won a greater percentage of elections between 1970 and 1989 than did unions in other industries. Several factors significantly affected union victory rates at electric utilities: when the election was held, the union involved, the size of the utility, the percent of the state’s labor force unionized, the number of eligible voters, whether the election involved multiple-unions, and whether the election was Regional- or Board-directed.     

Male-female differences in the potential for union growth outside traditionally unionized industries

Using recent NLS data on preferences for union representation, this paper examines whether differences by sex exist in the potential for union organizing outside of traditionally unionized industries. The methodology distinguishes between workers’ preferences for union representation and the relative supply of union jobs in explaining interindustry differences in the extent of unionization. Within the private sector, women employed in industries other than those traditionally unionized are found to have at least as strong a preference for unionization as do comparable men but a considerably lower opportunity for unionized employment given the desire for union representation. Comparing the public sector with traditionally organized industries, the greater extent of unionization in the public sector is largely explained by a stronger desire for union representation on the part of both male and female public sector employees. The helpful comments of Rodney Fort, Daniel Hamermesh, Robert Hutchens, and Jon Sonstelie on an earlier draft of the paper are gratefully acknowledged.     

Union wage differentials and the effects of industry and local union density: Evidence from the 1980s

This study finds that the real union-nonunion wage differential has declined only slightly since 1985, a period of falling unionism. The study also finds that, in contrast to earlier research, local (geographic) union density positively affects union and nonunion wages. This paper has benefited from discussions with Bill Even and Barry Hirsch. The research support of the School of Business Administration Research Committee is greatly appreciated.     

Harvest trails in Australia: Patterns of seasonal migration in the fruit and vegetable industry

Against a background of declining employment in agriculture, a mobile workforce plays a crucial role in meeting seasonal labour demand in Australia. The dynamics of this labour force have received surprisingly little attention. We situate seasonal migration within the rising diversity of present-day mobility, and capture images of its early history in Australia. Statistical and documentary sources provide a basis to illustrate patterns of demand for seasonal labour and estimate the size of the workforce. Drawing on fieldwork in three case study regions of Queensland, we then seek to establish the composition of the seasonal workforce, identify their motives for undertaking seasonal work, and discover their harvest trails. Combining these data generates a typology that distinguishes key groups. Our results point to a fall in the numbers of Permanent Itinerants compensated by a sharp rise in Retirees and Working Holiday Makers from Overseas, each with distinctive spatial circuits. We argue that consumption motives play a growing role in the dynamics of seasonal labour mobility, and identify an emerging organisational apparatus that shapes and controls the industry. Drawing on the experience of other developed countries with more open labour markets, we anticipate continuing transformation in seasonal labour dynamics.     

Employment growth in the temporary help supply industry

During the 1980s, a significant increase occurred in the employment of temporary workers — employees hired for a specific task and for a limited duration — because of changing economic conditions that raised both the demand for and supply of temporary workers. Using time-series data, we investigate the factors that influenced temporary employment growth by analyzing the expansion in the temporary help supply (THS) industry. On the demand side, increasing aggregate output and heightened foreign competition were the most important factors that encouraged firms to hire temporary workers. On the supply side, increasing participation of certain demographic groups, notably married women, shifted the supply curve of temporary workers outward. We thank Nathan Balke, Bonnie Fisher, and Jeff Mills for helpful comments.     

Union organizing expenditures: Determinants and their implications for union growth

This paper explores some implications of the economics of union organizing. Following the literature, it is argued that the economic costs and benefits of organizing are systematically related to the proportion of the union’s jurisdiction already organized. Evidence is presented that unions do allocate a smaller proportion of their budgets to organizing when a greater proportion of their jurisdiction is already organized. Total union organizing expenditures, however, are found to increase over a broad range as the percentage organized increases. The supply of union-organizing services to unorganized workers apparently only declines at relatively high levels of union penetration. These critical levels of unionization have been attained only by a few U.S. labor organizations.     

Outsiders in the union: organizing,consent, and union recognition campaigns

Although outsiders have played an important role in social protest in the U.S., outsiders’ role in the U.S. labor movement has been the focus of spirited debate. Debate about outsider organizers, in particular, reached a fevered pitch in the late 1990s, and continues today. This paper scrutinizes two of the core assumptions of this debate: that insider and outsider organizers operate differently on union recognition campaigns, and that workers respond to them differently in these settings. We analyzed 153 in-depth interviews with workers and organizers conducted at the height of the debate, in order to answer two questions: What is the role of outsider organizers during private sector union recognition campaigns, and how do outsider organizers secure workers’ consent in these settings? All of the organizers in our data-set were graduates of the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Institute, and 64 of them were outsiders. The outsider organizers in our data-set confronted barriers that insider organizers did not, including workers’ concerns about their youth, inexperience and lack of professionalism, and their own inability to relate to workers. While many critics of outsider organizers claim that these barriers are insurmountable, we found the opposite to be true. The vast majority of outsider organizers in our data-set successfully secured workers’ consent by demonstrating commitment, building relationships, and being honest and forthright. After proposing changes in organizer training and leadership development in response to these findings, we conclude with a brief discussion of the enduring debate about outsiders’ role in social protest in the U.S.     

Policy assignment in the European union

EMU will see a re‐allocation of responsibility between different tiers of government for different elements of economic policy, yet policy assignment in the EU often reflects political compromises rather than dispassionate analysis or principles. This article explores the arguments for assigning responsibility for economic policy to different tiers of government in the EU. In the light of these arguments, the case for re‐assigning policy for prudential supervision of credit institutions, regulation of utilities and industrial policy is examined. This leads to the conclusion that closer economic integration will require potentially substantial changes in the assignment of policy.     

城市服务业发展的环境要素与经济增长

一、城市服务业发展环境要素及其特点在西方经济学中,外部环境又被称为外部性（外部影响）,是指一个经济活动的主体对他所处的经济环境的影响。外部性的影响会造成私人成本与社会成本、私人收益与社会收益不一致,比较容易造成市场失灵。     

The level and growth of union/nonunion relative wage effects, 1967–1977

This paper pools cross-section data to obtain an estimate of the overall effects of unions on relative wages for the period 1967 through 1977. We found the average union wage premium for all workers to be roughly 24 percent, but that this premium varies substantially between subgroups of workers. Our analysis showed that real wage rates increased faster in the union sector than in the nonunion sector between 1967 through 1977. However, we found that this relative growth pattern in wages was caused by economic conditions rather than in any fundamental shift in the power of unions. We wish to thank James S. Cunningham, H. Gregg Lewis, and John Pencavel for helpful comments.     

Entrepreneurial human capital accumulation and the growth of rural businesses: a four-country survey in mountainous and lagging areas of the European union

The paper presents the processes of entrepreneurial human capital accumulation and its impact on rural business growth. Data are derived from four surveys on rural businesses in mountainous and less favoured areas in Southern Europe. Formal pathways of entrepreneurial human capital accumulation refer to education and training, while informal pathways include the cognitive processes of work and managerial experience acquisition and the non-cognitive processes of being raised within an entrepreneurial family environment and/or being raised in the area within which the business is later set-up. The studies reveal that there is a variety of processes of entrepreneurial human capital and knowledge accumulation that are case study specific. Human capital accumulation processes related to education and training or to work and managerial experience still plays the prime role in predicting successful businesses. Results indicate the need for decentralised, flexible and selective entrepreneurial human capital accumulation support programmes that take into account local idiosyncrasies and needs.     

Member participation in union activities: Perceptions of union priorities,performance, and satisfaction

Data obtained from union respondents of a survey using a national probability sample that is representative of the U.S. labor force revealed that members’ perceptions of their unions’ effectiveness in obtaining both extrinsic and intrinsic benefits and the unions’ responsiveness to membership were significantly related to member participation in union activities. Union satisfaction was inversely related to participation. Perceptions of union power and service and demographic variables, such as age and education, were found to have less significant linkages with member participation.