Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/130293 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9610
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study how union certification affects the enforcement of workplace-safety laws. To generate credible causal estimates, a regression discontinuity design compares outcomes in establishments where unions barely won representation elections to outcomes in establishments where union barely lost such elections. The study combines two main datasets: the census of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) representation elections and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) enforcement database since 1985. There is evidence of positive effects of union certification on establishment's rate of OSHA inspection, the share of inspections carried out in the presence of a labor representative, violations cited, and penalties assessed.
Subjects: 
union(s)
OSHA inspections
workplace accidents
effects
labor market institutions
JEL: 
J51
J28
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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