 Assessing the political aspects of full employment: evidence from work stoppagesLuke Petach Review of Keynesian Economics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 3, 352-376 Abstract: Using monthly state-level data on work stoppages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and state-level labor market data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), this paper estimates the effect of state-level labor market conditions on strike activity from 1993 to 2023. Panel fixed-effects estimates suggest a one percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate reduces the number of work stoppages involving 1000 or more workers (per million) by approximately 14%. The fixed-effects estimates are supported by a propensity-score based specification that exploits the differential timing of national recessions across US states. Entering a recession is negatively related to state-level strike activity as measured by both work stoppages and the share of employed workers reporting an absence from work due to a labor dispute. The results in this paper provide empirical support for Kalecki’s argument regarding the “political aspects of full employment†: weak labor markets reduce direct action by labor, thereby providing a rationalization for capitalist opposition to full employment policy. Keywords: Michal Kalecki; Strikes; Work stoppages; Labor relations; Business cycles (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:rokejn:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p352-376 Access Statistics for this article Review of Keynesian Economics is currently edited by Thomas Palley, MatÃas Vernengo and Esteban Pérez Caldentey More articles in Review of Keynesian Economics from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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