Abstract
In order to estimate the effects of unions on worker productivity, a Cobb-Douglas production function is modified so that unionization is included as a variable. The resulting functional form is similar to that used to isolate the effect of worker quality in previous studies. Using state by two-digit SIC observations for U.S. manufacturing, unionization is found to have a substantial positive effect on output per worker. However, this result depends on two important assumptions which we cannot verify directly; attempts to relax these assumptions are not conclusive.
Keywords
ProductivityProduction (economics)Variable (mathematics)Quality (philosophy)Function (biology)Order (exchange)Labour economicsEconomicsProcess (computing)MicroeconomicsOperations managementMathematicsComputer scienceEconomic growthFinance
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1978
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 86
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 355-378
- Citations
- 384
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Charles Brown,
James L. Medoff
(1978).
Trade Unions in the Production Process.
Journal of Political Economy
, 86
(3)
, 355-378.
https://doi.org/10.1086/260677
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1086/260677