Gender Differences in the Union Wage Premium? A Comparative Case Study

Alex Bryson, Harald Dale-Olsen () and Kristine Nergaard ()
Additional contact information
Harald Dale-Olsen: Institute for Social Research, Oslo
Kristine Nergaard: Fafo

No 10435, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Trade unions have transformed from male-dominated organisations rooted in manufacturing to majority-female organisations serving predominantly white-collar workers, often in the public sector. Adopting a comparative case study approach using nationally representative linked employer-employee surveys for Norway and Britain we examine whether, in keeping with a median voter model, the gender shift in union membership has resulted in differential wage returns to unionisation among men and women. In Britain, while only women receive a union wage premium, only men benefit from the increased bargaining power of their union as indicated by workplace union density. In Norway, on the other hand, although a union wage premium arises from individual union membership for men and women in male-dominated unions, in workplaces where the union is female-dominated women benefit more than men from the increased bargaining power of the union as union density rises. The findings suggest British unions continue to adopt a paternalistic attitude to representing their membership, in contrast to their more progressive counterparts in Norway.

Keywords: wage premium; trade unions; collective bargaining; union density; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J28 J51 J81 L23 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: European Journal of Industrial Relations , 2020, 26 (2), 173 - 190

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Working Paper: Gender Differences in the Union Wage Premium? A Comparative Case Study (2016)
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