The Decline of Unionization in the United States: What Can Be Learned from Recent Experience

Henry S Farber

Journal of Labor Economics, 1990, vol. 8, issue 1, S75-105

Abstract: The dramatic decline in unionization over the last decade is investigated in the context of a supply/demand model of union status determination using data from surveys of workers conducted in 1977 and 1984 along with data from the National Labor Relations Board on representation elections. It is concluded that the decline in unionization since 1977 is accounted for largely by (1) an increase in employer resistance to unionization, probably due to increased product market competitiveness and (2) a decrease in demand for union representation by nonunion workers due to an increase in the satisfaction of nonunion workers with their jobs and a decline in nonunion workers' beliefs that unions are able to improve wages and working conditions. Copyright 1990 by University of Chicago Press.

Date: 1990
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