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The Determinants of Individual Union Membership in Australia: A Structural Approach Using Panel Data
Author(s) -
Dobbie Michael,
Nahm Daehoon
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/1759-3441.12199
Subject(s) - ordered probit , wage , union density , differential (mechanical device) , demographic economics , probit model , panel data , similarity (geometry) , probit , contrast (vision) , labour economics , survey data collection , economics , econometrics , statistics , engineering , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics) , aerospace engineering
This paper uses The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to estimate a structural probit model of the determinants of individual union membership. The paper finds that union membership responds positively to the wage differential between union and non‐union workers. Consistent with other Australian and overseas research, we find that job rather than individual characteristics are the most important determinants of the probability of union membership. We contrast our research with previous Australian research from the 1980s when unionism was compulsory for many workers. We find significant similarity between the major drivers of individual union membership.