Economic Effects of The Firefighters' Union

   (219 K)

This is a study of the effects of unionism in the public sector occupation of firefighting. A large and detailed set of data permits the examination of submarkets of this occupation. A before/after methodology is introduced to obtain more precise estimates of union wage differentials. The study's findings are: (1) that there is a greater union effect on fringes than on salaries which indicates a significant alteration in the composition of the compensation package;(2) that the estimates from the before/after methodology confirm the cross-section results which show modest union wage differentials; and ,most significantly, (3) that the union effect varies along different dimensions -- most notably the length of the contractual arrangement between municipality and union.

Published: Ichniowski, Casey "The Economic Effects of the Firefighters' Union," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 33 (January 1980).

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