Are there gains to joining a union? Evidence from Mexico

Hector Gutierrez Rufrancos

No 315, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: Union density in Mexico has been in decline since the 1980s. This paper provides ev- idence on the worker compensation gains (losses) made by males upon joining (leaving) a union. These are estimated using a nationally representative labour market survey covering 2005q1-2016q1. The transitions between non-union and union status are investigated using a difference-in-difference estimator. The findings suggest that joining a union is associated with modest wage gains, contrary to what the literature has shown for most industrialised nations. However, in contrast to this some union leavers are found to experience a decrease in wages. This paper also contributes to the wider literature by providing the first estimates of the longitudinal gain (loss) associated with joining (leaving) a union with respect to non-wage benefits. The findings show joining (leaving) a union increases (decreases) the probability of being in receipt of legally guaranteed benefits such as bonuses and paid holidays. This sug- gests that although union density may be in decline, unions still have an important role to play in voicing worker's preferences with respect to compensation and ensuring that employers comply with the law.

Keywords: unions; wages; Mexico; non-wage benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 J33 J51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/191763/1/GLO-DP-0315.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Are There Gains to Joining a Union? Evidence from Mexico (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:glodps:315

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().