The Economics of Union Representatives
Paper Session
Friday, Jan. 5, 2024 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (CST)
- Chair: Lorenzo Lagos, Brown University and IZA
Collective Bargaining for Women: How Unions Can Create Female-Friendly Jobs
Abstract
Why aren't workplaces better designed for women? We show that changing the priorities of those who set workplace policies can create female-friendly jobs. Starting in 2015, Brazil's largest trade union federation made women central to its bargaining agenda. Neither establishments nor workers choose their union, permitting a difference-in-differences design to study causal effects. We find that "bargaining for women" increases female-centric amenities in collective bargaining agreements, which are then reflected in practice (e.g., more female managers, longer maternity leaves, longer job protection). These changes cause women to queue for jobs at treated establishments and separate from them lessboth revealed preference measures of firm value. We find no evidence that these gains come at the expense of employment, workers' wages, or firm profits. Hence, prioritizing women's preferences in decision-making can lower within-firm gender inequality through more efficient bargaining.The Union-Politics Pipeline
Abstract
This paper studies the role of unions as a pipeline into politics. In particular, we focus on union leaders—representing either workers (labor unions) or firms (employer associations)—who participate in executive or legislative local elections in Brazil from 2004 to 2022. The paper has two main goals (results are preliminary). First, we combine rich data on union leadership, elections, and work histories to characterize selection along the pipeline. We find positive selection into union leadership paired with some negative selection from unions into politics. The evidence suggests that union leadership effectively acts as a screening mechanism for competent politicians from groups underrepresented among the political class. Second, we exploit a 2017 reform that removed mandatory agency fees to estimate the causal effects of weakening unions on the pipeline. We find limited changes to selection along the pipeline paired with a reduction in the election prospects of union leaders.Worker Representatives
Abstract
We study the selection of worker representatives and how representation affects worker outcomes. We focus on the case of powerful German works councils. These shop-floor representatives are elected from the workforce and have broad authorities. We paint a comprehensive picture of representatives’ characteristics spanning a period of more than forty years, combining rich administrative panel and representative survey data. Contrary to other domains of power where blue-collar workers are often underrepresented, we document that blue-collar workers have been proportionally represented among works councilors for the past four decades. Although in the 1970s and 1980s, men with vocational training were highly overrepresented among councilors, we observe a secular convergence over time, resulting in almost proportional representation along these dimensions today. Our findings reject theories of adverse selection and instead indicate that worker representatives are positively selected in terms of their earnings and person-fixed effects. They tend to have more extroverted, more open, and less neurotic personalities, and show greater interest in politics while leaning left politically, compared to the populations they represent. Drawing on event study designs around scheduled works council elections, as well as an instrumental variables strategy building on representatives retiring, we study the effects of blue-collar representation on worker outcomes. We find that electing blue-collar representatives protects workers from involuntary layoffs and leads to small increases in wages and apprenticeship training. Our results align with the idea that blue-collar representatives place greater emphasis on job security, in line with higher worries about layoffs and risk of unemployment faced by blue-collar workers.Discussant(s)
Heather Sarsons
,
University of British Columbia and NBER
Niharika Singh
,
University of Notre Dame
Matthew Johnson
,
Duke University
JEL Classifications
- J5 - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
- P0 - General