Asymmetries in Union Relative Wage Effects in Ghanaian Manufacturing : An Analysis Applying Quantile Regressions
The authors analyze the determinants of earnings in Ghanaian manufacturing, focusing on the impact of unions in terms of the "union relative wage effect", and the possible asymmetries of this effect across the earnings distribution. They...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/03/1047501/asymmetries-union-relative-wage-effects-ghanaian-manufacturing-analysis-applying-quantile-regressions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19696 |
| Summary: | The authors analyze the determinants of
earnings in Ghanaian manufacturing, focusing on the impact
of unions in terms of the "union relative wage
effect", and the possible asymmetries of this effect
across the earnings distribution. They find evidence of a
union relative wage effect occurring through two distinct
channels. First, there is a direct effect through individual
union membership, the standard "union premium",
well known from the empirical literature on unions. Second,
there is a spillover effect to non-union members. The
authors also find evidence of an additional union effect,
that comes through firm-specific training. They confirm
their conjecture that there is an asymmetry in the union
relative wage effect: unions benefit mainly at the lower end
of the wage distribution. This finding is in line with
earlier research, which generally finds that unions reduce
income inequality, and wage discrimination. An evaluation of
the non-union sub-sample, using the estimated union wage
structure, confirms the presence of structural differences
between the union, and non-union segments of Ghanaian
manufacturing: for given characteristics, a worker in the
union sector earns more than a worker in the non-union sector. |
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