It is a well known fact that the extent of unionization is lower in states with Right-to-Work (RTW) laws. A framework is developed for determining whether RTW laws actually cause a decrease in the extent of unionization or whether they simply mirror preexisting tastes of workers against unions....

In contrast to previous studies which have examined the impact of Right-to-Work (RTW) laws on the level or stock of union membership, this paper examines their impact on the most updated flow into membership and the organizing of workers through certified elections. Since detailed annual data...

Evidence on the implementation of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act suggests that the available work is often rationed by local leaders in poor areas, and that this is an important factor limiting the scheme's impact on poverty. The paper offers explanations for this empirical...

This paper uses two complementary approaches to estimate the effect of right-to-work (RTW) laws on wages and unionization rates. The first approach uses an event study design to analyze the impact of the adoption of RTW laws in five U.S. states since 2011. The second approach relies on a...

Unions play a crucial role in determining wages and employment outcomes. However, union bargaining power may also have important effects on non-pecuniary working conditions. We study the effects of right-to-work laws, which removed agency shop protection and weakened union powers on long hours...

The United States has experienced a significant decline in labor unions over the past half-century. We examine the aggregate labor market impact of labor unions, the causes of their decline, and their welfare and distributional consequences, accounting for unions' effects on wages and employers'...

Fundamental knowledge in the life sciences has consequential implications for medicine and subsequent medical innovations. Using publications in leading life science journals to measure fundamental knowledge, we document large agglomerations in the institutions where it is discovered and a...

We introduce aggregate shocks to workers' value of job amenities in a frictional equilibrium model of the labor market with on-the-job search, where the job creation cost is sunk and quits trigger vacancies. We examine how key labor market indicators respond to this shock: when the valuation of...

We consider founders of limited liability firms who previously held jobs in the formal sector of Brazil. Managers are five percent of former job holders but their startups account for 27 percent of new firm employment. Relatively little of their overrepresentation as founders or the larger size...

We examine whether greater Medicaid generosity encourages mobility towards riskier but better jobs in higher paid occupations and industries. We use Current Population Survey Data and exploit variation in Medicaid thresholds across states and over time through the 1990s and 2000s. We find that...