Two roads diverged: Legal context and changing levels of private and public sector union density in the US states, 1984–2019

2021 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2110250
Author(s):  
Michael Wallace ◽  
Todd E Vachon ◽  
Allen Hyde

This article examines the causes of the different historical trajectories of US union membership in the private and public sectors, a topic relevant for understanding the link between unions and industrial democracy. The article focuses on the different legal contexts shaping membership in these two sectors, especially the role of right-to-work (RTW) and public sector collective bargaining (PSCB) laws. Using state-level data from 1984 to 2019, the study finds that RTW laws decrease, and PSCB laws increase union membership in both sectors, suggesting cross-over effects. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the prospects of expanding economic and industrial democracy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J Doogan ◽  
Mary Ellen Wewers ◽  
Micah Berman

BackgroundIncreasing cigarette prices reduce cigarette use. The US Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate the sale and promotion—and therefore the price—of tobacco products.ObjectiveTo examine the potential effect of federal minimum price regulation on the sales of cigarettes in the USA.MethodWe used yearly state-level data from the Tax Burden on Tobacco and other sources to model per capita cigarette sales as a function of price. We used the fitted model to compare the status quo sales with counterfactual scenarios in which a federal minimum price was set. The minimum price scenarios ranged from $0 to $12.ResultsThe estimated price effect in our model was comparable with that found in the literature. Our counterfactual analyses suggested that the impact of a minimum price requirement could range from a minimal effect at the $4 level to a reduction of 5.7 billion packs sold per year and 10 million smokers at the $10 level.ConclusionA federal minimum price policy has the potential to greatly benefit tobacco control and public health by uniformly increasing the price of cigarettes and by eliminating many price-reducing strategies currently available to both sellers and consumers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
David Maume ◽  
Ervin (Maliq) Matthew ◽  
George Wilson

Because U.S. states are meaningful polities with differing cultures and institutions, they are important locations for the struggles for resources. Yet there have been surprisingly few studies of how state-level cleavages and institutions shape the pattern of income inequality, especially by race. This article matches individual-level data on income and its determinants (from the Current Population Survey) to state-level measures (mostly from Census data) of varying demographic, power, and institutional configurations. A multilevel model of the racial pay gap is estimated showing that racial income inequality increases with the size of the minority population in the state but decreases with the rate of filing racial discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The index of labor market power (a scaled index of union density and the size of the public sector) increases pay across the board but does not reduce racial income inequality. The findings suggest that recent and current neoliberal efforts across states to shrink government, limit unions, and abandon enforcement of antidiscrimination will lower wages for all workers and exacerbate racial income inequality.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Albuquerque ◽  
Ursel Baumann ◽  
Georgi Krustev

AbstractThe balance sheet adjustment in the household sector was a prominent feature of the Great Recession that is widely believed to have held back the cyclical recovery of the US economy. A key question for the US outlook is therefore whether household deleveraging has ended or whether further adjustment is needed. The novelty of this paper is to estimate a time-varying equilibrium household debt-to-income ratio determined by economic fundamentals to examine this question. The paper uses state-level data for household debt from the FRBNY Consumer Credit Panel over the period 1999Q1–2012Q4 and employs the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimator developed by Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (1999), adjusted for cross-section dependence. The results support the view that, despite significant progress in household balance sheet repair, household deleveraging still had some way to go as of 2012Q4, as the actual debt-to-income-ratio continued to exceed its estimated equilibrium. The baseline conclusions are rather robust to a set of alternative specifications. Going forward, our model suggests that part of this debt gap could, however, be closed by improving economic conditions rather than only by further declines in actual debt. Nevertheless, the normalisation of the monetary policy stance may imply challenges for the deleveraging process by reducing the level of sustainable household debt.


ILR Review ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Saltzman

This study analyzes state-level data for 1959–78 to determine whether the rapid growth of teacher unionism during those years was primarily a result or a cause of the public sector bargaining laws adopted during the same period. The author finds, contrary to the view of some scholars, that the enactment of laws requiring public sector employers to bargain with majority representatives of their employees was the single most important cause of the growth in the proportion of teachers covered by union contracts. Although the growth in teacher unionism in turn encouraged the adoption of some new or stronger bargaining laws, this effect was relatively weak. More important predictors of new bargaining laws included the extent of political patronage in a state and the bargaining laws adopted by neighboring states.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-136
Author(s):  
T.L. Zhuravleva ◽  
◽  
◽  

Based on micro-level data on reported household earnings, expenditures and assets, provided by the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) for the period 2000–2013, it is found that households with workers in the public sector receive lower earnings than households with members employed in the private sector but enjoy the same level of consumption. Controlling for the reported level of earnings, private households do not show a significantly higher probability of possessing summer cottages (dachas), cars and computers, or living in better housing conditions, or having a higher level of monetary savings. The differences in assets cannot be reconciled with the sizeable expenditure-income gap found. The precautionary motives of workers are not able to reconcile these discrepancies either: neither attitude to risk, nor risk itself, differ between individuals employed in the private and public sectors. It is hypothesized that employees continue working in the public sector despite their low rate of official pay, because of unreported income they receive, or bribes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 510-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Steinfeld ◽  
Eric Prier ◽  
Clifford McCue

Purpose – Procurement is a specific, yet dynamic area of work and study that is recognized as an occupation by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, there is growing literature that substantiates differences in theory and practice, between procurement practitioners in the private and public sectors. The purpose of this paper is to validate the procurement occupational duties identified by the BLS with actual job activities performed and managed by public sector practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a survey of public sector practitioners to obtain information with regards to occupational duties and job activities in public procurement, as compared to a BLS proxy for procurement. Findings – Public procurement practitioners complete the occupational duties identified by BLS, yet there is one occupational duty in public procurement that is absent from the BLS description for procurement. Practical implications – Empirical data and analysis identifies the potential for public procurement to be considered its own occupation separate from private sector procurement, providing a foundation for development, management, and professionalization of the field. Originality/value – The public procurement practitioners who completed the survey have a high degree of professional orientation based on certifications held and professional association membership, a foundation for generating applicatory results for studying the actual occupational duties in procurement. The specialized job activities performed and managed in perhaps the fastest growing occupation within public sector management are catalogued in this study.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-192
Author(s):  
Papori Baruah ◽  
Rashmi R. Baruah

Indian Telecom Sector is one of the fastest growing domains compared to other sectors of development, which has received extensive investments, both by government as well as private players in the recent years. The prime purpose of this study was to compare the performance of Public and Private Telecommunication sector with reference to wireless services in Assam Telecom Circle. The paper tried to explore and understand the major similarities and differences existing between the public and private cellular service providers in terms of market penetration effectiveness, their subscribers’ base, revenue earned by them etc. in the above mentioned Circle. National and State level data of Telecom Sector was collected on a periodic basis over time. A critical evaluation had been done with the help of Applied Analytical Research, by using facts and information already available. The result showed that there were few common factors applicable to both Public and Private Telecom Sector; however significant differences in performance are there in these sectors in Assam Circle. The key findings from this study describe that visibly the Private Sector had better performance than Public Sector in terms of few parameters considered in this study, which might indicate a possible development direction for the effectiveness of Public Sector in this Circle.Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol-2, issue-3: 188-192 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v2i3.12570   


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit S. Loomba ◽  
Gaurav Aggarwal ◽  
Saurabh Aggarwal ◽  
Saul Flores ◽  
Enrique G. Villarreal ◽  
...  

Objective: To utilize publicly reported, state-level data to identify factors associated with the frequency of cases, tests, and mortality in the US. Materials & Methods: Retrospective study using publicly reported data collected included the number of COVID-19 cases, tests, and mortality from March 14th through April 30th, 2020. Publicly available state-level data was collected which included: demographics comorbidities, state characteristics and environmental factors. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify the significantly associated factors with percent mortality, case and testing frequency. All analyses were state-level analyses and not patient-level analyses. Results: A total of 1,090,500 COVID-19 cases were reported during the study period. The calculated case and testing frequency were 3,332 and 19,193 per 1,000,000 patients. There were 63,642 deaths during this period which resulted in a mortality of 5.8%. Factors including to but not limited to population density (beta coefficient 7.5, p< 0.01), transportation volume (beta coefficient 0.1, p< 0.01), tourism index (beta coefficient -0.1, p=0.02) and older age (beta coefficient 0.2, p=0.01) are associated with case frequency and percent mortality. Conclusions: There were wide variations in testing and case frequencies of COVID-19 among different states in the US. States with higher population density had a higher case and testing rate. States with larger population of elderly and higher tourism had a higher mortality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
Hussein Elkamel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show that states where corruption is greater also have higher levels of inflation. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of all US states through the period 1992-2007 and various factors common across states that could impact the level of corruption or inflation, multiple regression techniques are used to determine corruption impact to inflation. Findings The study finds that corruption contributes, along with aid transfer, positively to inflation in the US states. The results are robust even after scaling the corruption variable to different determinants. Originality/value While there is some evidence on the relationship between corruption and inflation in cross-country dataset, there is no such evidence on it within country dataset. This paper, however, provides evidence on the relationship between corruption and inflation using state-level data of the US states.


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