Using Current Population Survey data supplemented with secondary data sources, this paper analyzes changes in the wage distribution in the U.S. grocery stores industry between 1984 and 1994. In contrast with other industries in which wage inequality has increased, the important change in the...

This paper analyzes youth-adult unionization differences by uniquely using the NLSY79 to follow a single group of individuals from age 15/16 to 40/41. Youth-adult differences are shown to be largest for individuals aged 15-17, and largely disappear by age 23. Research shows that workers are most...

Debates over revitalizing the U.S. labor movement often overlook when workers are first unionized. This paper tracks a cohort of individuals from age 15/16 to 40/41 to analyze the frequency and nature of workers' first unionized jobs. It is well-established that workers are most likely to be...

At any given time, workers can be currently-unionized, formerly-unionized, or never-unionized. Research frequently focuses on the currently-unionized, but using 21 waves of NLSY79 data to track individuals starting at age 15 and 16, this paper shows that half of U.S. workers who are 40 or 41...

By returning to an old insight that frames of reference influence action, we theorize that actors’ frames influence their desired HR practices, and these practices will be stable if managers and employees share similar frames. When actors’ frames are mismatched, however, HR practices can...

Ideological connections between the state, political systems, and industrial relations have long been important. But the influence of the structural nature of a country’s political system on trade union membership, coverage, and influence has been largely overlooked. We uniquely theorize three...

Using a survey of over 2,000 employees, we analyze the extent to which labor unions have facilitated the implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Unions do not appear to have a significant effect on actual leave taking, but unionized individuals have better information about...

This paper empirically examines the widespread belief that voluntarily negotiated agreements produce better long-run relationships than third-party imposed settlements, such as arbitrator decisions or court judgments. Two key outcomes are analyzed — subsequent player performance and the...

Books reviewed in this article: Collective Bargaining in the Private Sector Edited by Paul F. Clark, John T. Delaney and Ann C. Frost. Industrial Relations and European Integration: Trans- and Supra-national Developments and Prospects Edited by Berndt Keller and Hans-Wolfgang Platzer. Industrial...

Using data from the January 1996 Current Population Survey's Displaced Worker Supplement, this article analyzes the effect of union representation on the likelihood that individuals eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits receive UI benefits. For white-collar workers, unions do not...