Benefits of collective bargaining in the local public sector are always nonrival for covered employees. In states with public sector right-to-work laws, they are also nonexcludable. Among 10,308 county and city departments that were nonunion in 1977, the probability of engaging in collective...

Previous studies estimate that black quit rates are lower than those of whites. This paper suggests that these estimates under-state black quit propensities because they neglect racial differences in quit responses to commuting time and local unemployment rates. Ignoring these differences, the...

This paper investigates interactions between co-worker productivity levels in a rich empirical context. Workers have unambiguous output measures, compensation that depends on individual and group output to differing degrees and potential peers beyond their immediate work group. Important...

In the private sector, "unionization" typically refers to employees who are organized, recognized, and covered by contracts, according to the procedures established by the National Labor Relations Board. The municipal sector provides an instructive contrast. There, "unionization" encompasses...