Strike Activity, Worker Militancy, and Productivity Change in Manufacturing, 1961–1981

Sean Flaherty

ILR Review, 1987, vol. 40, issue 4, 585-600

Abstract: The author hypothesizes a two-way causality between intracontractual strikes and productivity change in U.S. manufacturing: on the one hand, strikes during the term of a contract, which are thought to reflect more broadly practiced shop floor militancy, slow the pace of productivity growth; and on the other hand, periods of rapid productivity growth provoke increased intracontractual strike activity, among other forms of shop floor protest. The model is tested with quarterly data from 1961 through 1981. Modified two-stage least squares estimates support the hypothesis of two-way causality. A specific finding is that shop floor confrontation played a significant role in the slump in manufacturing productivity that began in the mid-1960s, but not in the more precipitous productivity slowdown of the post-1973 years.

Date: 1987
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