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Unionization and the Pattern of Nonunion Wages: Evidence for the UK
Author(s) -
Belfield Clive R.,
Heywood John S.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
oxford bulletin of economics and statistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.131
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0084
pISSN - 0305-9049
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0084.00236
Subject(s) - nonunion , earnings , wage , labour economics , economics , distribution (mathematics) , function (biology) , medicine , accounting , biology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , evolutionary biology , surgery
This paper presents the first examination of the effect of unionisation on the distribution of nonunion wages in the UK. We test a hypothesis that has received considerable attention in the US: that the threat of unionisation leads nonunion firms to increase the earnings of their lowest paid workers, so compressing their internal wage distribution. In aggregate we find little support for this hypothesis in the UK and suggest that the supportive evidence from the US may be a function of the absence of suitable linked employer‐employee data.