TY  - JOUR
AU  - Allen,Steven G.
TI  - Unions and Job Security in the Public Sector
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 2108
PY  - 1989
Y2  - August 1989
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2108
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2108.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Steven G. Allen
Jenkins Graduate School of Management
NC State University
2124 Nelson Hall
Raleigh, NC  27695-7229
Tel: 919/515-6941
Fax: 919/515-5073
E-Mail: STEVE_ALLEN@NCSU.EDU
M1  - published as Steven G. Allen. "Unions and Job Security in the Public Sector," in Richard B. Freeman and Casey Ichniowski, eds., "When Public Sector Workers Unionize" University of Chicago Press (1988)

AB  - This study examines the effect of unions on job security in the public and private sectors. Despite much lower unemployment rates for public than private sector workers, once one controls for differences in worker and job characteristics, the odds of being unemployed are identical for nonunion workers in the public and private sectors. The picture is quite different for union workers, who face greater odds of becoming unemployed than nonunion workers in private sector jobs but much lower chances of becoming unemployed in the public sector. The ability of unions to reduce layoff and unemployment rates in the public sector seems attributable to the political power to prevent budget cuts and the absence of Unemployment Insurance subsidies or supplemental unemployment benefits.
ER  -