Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/109997 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 787
Publisher: 
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the economic impact of unions on productivity in the manufacturing sector across six Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Using an augmented Cobb-Douglas production function, the paper finds that unions have positive, but mostly small, effects on productivity, with the exception of Argentina, with a large negative effect, and Bolivia, with no effect. An analysis on profitability shows that, in most cases, the positive productivity effects barely offset higher union compensation, and that unions are negatively related to investment in capital and R & D. Different explanations for these effects are discussed.
Subjects: 
Unions
Productivity
Profitability
Investment
Latin America
Developing Countries
JEL: 
J50
L1
O54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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