type="main" xml:id="irel12072-abs-0001" <p>The effect of prevailing wage laws on the cost of public construction has been the subject of an ongoing public policy debate. We measure this effect by comparing the public/private construction cost differential for schools built before and after British...</p>

Data from plumbing and pipefitting union locals are used to measure the effect of union organizing strength on the wages of high-skilled and semi-skilled nonunion workers. We find that increases in union strength are associated with higher wages for nonunion journeymen. However, the wages of...

Stochastic frontier regression is used to examine the effect of introducing prevailing wage legislation on public school construction efficiency in British Columbia. Prior to the legislation, public school projects were from 16% to 19% smaller, in terms of square feet, than comparable private...