Does trade liberalization always decrease union bargaining power?

Jorge Saba Arbache

Economia, 2004, vol. 5, issue 1, pages 99-121

Abstract: The theoretical and empirical literature shows that union wages are more responsive to international import competition than nonunion wages, thus reducing unions bargaining power. In this paper we track the influence of unions on wages in Brazil before and after the trade liberalization in the beginning of the 1990s. We find that union bargaining power increased rather that decreased after economic openness. Our results seem to be related to the bargaining framework prevailing in the Brazilian labor market.

Keywords: Union; trade liberalization; wage structure; wage dispersion; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 J31 J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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