Unions, Norms, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality

By Bruce Western, Jake Rosenfeld. 2011

693 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, General Health Professions, Public Administration

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/426f57d9848ef26adfd935dd92842e0fb0e84f1c

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Citations in the corpus

The Politics of Public Debt: Neoliberalism, Capitalist Development and the Restructuring of the State (2014, neutral): “Dwindling unionization and the ‘withering away of the strike’ (Ross and Hartman, 1960) contributed their share to rising inequality in incomes (Western and Rosenfeld, 2011).”
When Unionization Disappears (2013, background): “The neglect of unionization in studies of working poverty is also unfortunate given that the decline of unionization contributed to increases in earnings inequality (Western and Rosenfeld 2011) and the precariousness of work (Kalleberg 2007).”
The Declining Worker Power Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Recent Evolution of the American Economy (2020, positive): “…workers in nonunion firms likely incentivized firms to offer better wages and benefits than they otherwise would have (Leicht 1989; Farber 2005; Denice and Rosenfeld 2018).15 And union bargaining power may have more generally supported norms of equity in pay structures (Western and Rosenfeld 2011).”
Value Creation, Appropriation, and Distribution: How Firms Contribute to Societal Economic Inequality (2018, background): “Although employees tend to have lower bargaining power, they can enhance it through unionization, which has shown to increase both union and nonunion wages (Western & Rosenfeld, 2011).”
How Firms Shape Income Inequality: Stakeholder Power, Executive Decision Making, and the Structuring of Employment Relationships (2015, background): “Second, a within-group effect as collective bargaining standardizes wages within firms and industries, thereby reducing differences between workers with similar characteristics (Freeman, 1980; Western & Rosenfeld, 2011).”
Probing Precarious Work: Theory, Research, and Politics (2017, background): “First, de-unionization has undermined workers’ organizational protections, giving employers a freer hand not only with respect to wage determination but also greater discretion in the use of “flexible” or non-standard work arrangements (Locke & Thelen, 1995; Western & Rosenfeld, 2011).”
Financialization and U.S. Income Inequality, 1970–20081 (2011, positive): “Our analysis confirms previous findings that deunionization is associated with long-run decline in labor’s share of income ðKristal 2010Þ, increasing income concentration at the top ðPiketty and Saez 2006Þ, and growing income dispersion among workers ðWestern and Rosenfeld 2011Þ.”
Occupational Closure and Wage Inequality in Germany and the United Kingdom (2015, background): “The wage returns to credentialing can accrue even to uncredentialed workers in an occupation, if employers are swayed by norms of equity (Western and Rosenfeld, 2011) or use compensation practices (e.g. benchmarking) that homogenize pay within an occupation.”
The causes of rising wage inequality: the race between institutions and technology (2016, background): “, 2004; Western and Rosenfeld, 2011), and about 20% among women (Western and Rosenfeld, 2011).”
Housing prices and wealth inequality in Western Europe (2019, background): “…taxation, a redistributive welfare state and public sector employment impact on income inequality (Bradley et al. 2003; Card et al. 2004; Kenworthy and Pontusson 2005; Piketty and Saez 2003; Pontusson and Rueda 2010; Pontusson et al. 2002; Rueda 2008; Wallerstein 1999; Western and Rosenfeld 2011).”
Technological Change, Skill Demand, and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Indonesia (2015, background): “Western and Rosenfeld (2011) present a decline of union membership as a source of increased wage inequality.”
The Employment Relationship and Inequality: How and Why Changes in Employment Practices are Reshaping Rewards in Organizations (2013, background): “Western and Rosenfeld (2011) also find a strong association between local industry unionization levels and wage inequality, arguing that unions impose norms of equity on the labor market.”