Volume 36, Number 1 (Winter) 2001
Grant, Darren. 2001. "A Comparison of the Cyclical Behavior of Union and Nonunion Wages in the United States." Journal of Human Resources 36(1):31-57.
This paper presents an extensive analysis of the behavior of union and nonunion wages over the business cycle, using quasi-panels developed from the Current Population Survey, in an attempt to resolve or reconcile competing claims about the cyclical behavior of union and nonunion wages. Union wages were roughly as procyclical as nonunion wages were, prior to the early 1980s. Substantial reductions in union wage procyclicality since then are associated with reductions in the procyclical exercise of bargaining power.
Darren Grant is an assistant professor of economics at Georgia Southern University. He thanks Mike Roberts and Pei-Hong Wang for helpful research assistance; Steve Allen, Stefan Norrbin, Sunder Ramaswamy, anonymous referees, and seminar participants at Regional Economics Models, Inc., the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Southern University, and the 1995 and 1996 Southern Economic Association Conferences for helpful comments; and W. Deming of the BLS for providing industry unemployment rates in electronic form. David Macpherson generously made helpful comments and assisted with the data. Barry Hirsch generously made constructive suggestions on several drafts and assisted with the data. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning June 2001 through May 2004 from Darren Grant, P.O. Box 8151, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8151; dgrant@gsaix2.cc.gasou.edu.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X