Open AccessComments on “An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: the Economic Implications” by Ann Layne-Farrar
Author(s) -
Susan Johnson
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
just labour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1705-1436
DOI - 10.25071/1705-1436.48
Subject(s) - skepticism , unemployment , empirical research , empirical evidence , population , cover (algebra) , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , engineering , medicine , philosophy , environmental health , epistemology , mechanical engineering
“An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications” by Ann Layne-Farrar provides empirical evidence concerning the impact on the U.S. unemployment rate and employment-to-population ratio should the highly controversial Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) become law. The paper has received widespread public attention and its analysis is being used in the debate surrounding the EFCA. This commentary raises three important questions about the empirical analysis: Are the predictions presented in the study, concerning the effects of the EFCA, realistic? Is the research design likely to identify the effects of the EFCA? Why do the data used in the analysis cover such a short time period? The discussion suggests the empirical results presented in Layne-Farrar (2009) should be viewed with considerable skepticism.