Offshoring and the Decline of Unions

Jakob Munch and William W. Olney
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William W. Olney: Williams College

No 2025_117, Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: ""Offshoring can reduce unionization rates by changing the composition of domestic employment or by eroding the union’s bargaining power and thus decreasing the benefits of membership. Using an employer-employee matched data set we measure the exogenous threat of offshoring at the firm-level and union decisions of individual workers. Findings show that the threat of offshoring reduces unionization rates, even within a job-spell. This is not driven by the changing composition of workers, but instead is consistent with a decline in the union's bargaining position. Additional results confirm that the union-wage-premium and the rent-sharing elasticity are both smaller at offshoring firms.""

Keywords: Offshoring; Unions; Trade; Globalization; Collective Bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47
Date: 2025-08-27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-inv and nep-lab
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Working Paper: Offshoring and the Decline of Unions (2024)
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