The Union Wage Mark-up for Immigrants in the United States

Laszlo Goerke and Cinzia Rienzo

No 202501, IAAEU Discussion Papers from Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU)

Abstract: Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) for 1994-2023, we show that the union wage mark-up for immigrants averages about 0.1 log points, 0.04 log-points less than that for natives. Therefore, unionization is less beneficial for immigrants than natives in the United States. The difference is most pronounced for males and low-skilled blue-collar workers. It cannot be observed for white-collar workers, individuals born in Mexico, and second-generation immigrants. An IVapproach indicates that the wage effects can be interpreted causally. Our results suggest that differences in the union wage mark-up may be due to disparities in bargaining power or result from discriminatory trade union objectives. Our findings point to the importance of labor market institutions in shaping the economic assimilation of immigrants.

Keywords: Immigrants; Union objectives; Union wage mark-up; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J31 J51 J61 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2025-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
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