Accounting for Labors Share: Class and Income Distribution in the Printing Industry

Abstract

This study investigates the distribution of income between capital and labor in the printing and publishing industry. The authors first compare a variety of conceptualizations and operational measures of labor's share and then estimate models for the period 1946 – 78 that explain the movements in several share measures on the basis of variables that represent the differential power of labor and capital. Their findings indicate that worker power (particularly the extent of unionism and sometimes strike frequency) increased labor's share, especially in the 1946 – 62 period, whereas employer power (asset size and capital intensity) decreased it.