Volume 28, Number 2 (Spring) 1993
Even, William E., and David A. Macpherson. 1993. "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap." Journal of Human Resources 28(2):279-296.
Between 1973 and 1988, private-sector unionism fell by 9.5 percentage points more for men than women, and the gender wage gap (one minus the ratio of female to male wages) decreased by .09. These trends support two findings: First, unionism fell more slowly for women primarily because the probability of unionism fell most rapidly in jobs dominated by males. Second, the greater decline in unionism among males is responsible for approximately one-seventh of the .09 decline in the gender wage gap.
William E. Even is an associate professor of economics at Miami University. David A. Macpherson is a visiting associate professor of economics at Miami University and is also a visiting associate professor at Florida State University. They thank Ted Chiles, Michael Curme, Jonathan Leonard, and the referees for helpful comments. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in August 1993 through August 1996 from David Macpherson at the following address: Department of Economics, R-128, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32606-2045.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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