TY  - JOUR
AU  - Allen,Steven G.
TI  - Productivity Levels and Productivity Change Under Unionism
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 2304
PY  - 1989
Y2  - August 1989
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2304
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2304.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
AB  - This paper examines how unions affect the rate of productivity change over time. The direction of union impact cannot be predicted from economic theory. Firms may tend to select more productive technologies to offset the cost of higher union wages or they may tend to select less productive technologies to keep union wage demands in line. Evidence from manufacturing indicates that unions have not affected productivity growth, but in the construction industry productivity growth has been much slower in areas where there is a high initial level of unionization or where unionization is growing.
ER  -