Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The suggestion has been made by Mulvey (1986) that trade unions may be able to influence the allocation of work paid at premium rates in favour of their members and that this may partially explain the existence of a union/non-union differential in average hourly earnings in Australia. This paper investigates both the general proposition and its particular application to the union/non-union wage differential. with respect to the distribution of paid overtime. Analysis of the Australian Longi tudinal Survey reveals that, while unions do appear to influence the distribution of overtime in favour of their members, the effect is small and would account for only about one percentage point of the union/non-union wage differential.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Blanchflower, D. and Oswald, A. (1990), 'Working Internationally', Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics, Discussion Paper No. 371.

Bureau of Labour Market Research (1986), The First Wave of the Australian Longitudinal Survey: Facts and Figures about Young CES Registrants, Monograph Series No. 12, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra .

Christie, Virginia (1991), 'Union Wage Effects and the Probability of Union Membership', Economic Record (forthcoming).

Freeman, Richard (1980), 'The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labour Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits and Separations', The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 94, no. 4, June, pp. 643-73.

Hatton, T.J. and Chapman, B.J. (1987), 'Post-School Training in Australia: 1900-1980', Working Paper No. 94, Working Papers in Economic History, Australian National University, Canberra.

Heckman, James J. (1979), 'Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error ', Econometrica, vol. 47, pp. 153-61.

Kornfeld, Robert (1990), 'Australia's Trade Unions: Wage, Fringe and Job Tenure Effects', mimeo, National Bureau of Economic Research , Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lewis, Gregg H. (1986), Union Relative Wage Effects: A Survey, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Miner, Paul (1990), 'Trade Unions and Job Satisfaction', Ausrralian Economic Papers (forthcoming).

10.

Milter, Paul and Mulvey, Charles (1991a), 'Australian Evidence on the Exit/Voice Model of the Labor Market', Industrial and Labor Relations Review (forthcoming).

11.

Miller, Paul and Mulvey, Charles (1991b), 'Trade Unions and the Distribution of Paid Overtime', Discussion Paper 91/3, Western Australian Labour Market Research Centre, Perth.

12.

Miller, Paul and Volker, Paul (1990), 'Youth Wages, Risk and Tertiary Finance Arrangements' , mimeo, Department of Economics, University of Queensland , St Lucia.

13.

Miller, Paul and Rummery, Sarah (1989), 'Unionism and the Structure of Male Wages for Youth', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 185-211.

14.

Mincer, Jacob (1974), Schooling, Experience and Earnings, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York.

15.

Mulvey. Charles (1986), 'Wage Levels: Do Unions Make a Difference', in John Niland , Wage Fixation in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney , pp. 202-16.

16.

Schultz, Paul T. (1980), 'Estimating Labor Supply Functions for Married Women', in James P. Smith (ed.), Female Labor Supply: Theory and Estimation, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, pp. 25-89.

17.

Thomson, A.J.W. , Mulvey, C. and Farbman, M. (1977), 'Bargaining Structure and Relative Earnings in Great Britain', British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. XV, no. 2, pp. 176-91.