Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145620 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographischer Wandel - Session: Heterogenous Firms and the Labor Market No. G07-V1
Publisher: 
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel und Hamburg
Abstract: 
How does an increase in organization costs (i.e. costs which arise when labor unions organize firm's workforces) affect the industry struc-ture, wage inequality and welfare? In the present paper, we build a model with costly and endogenous unionization, heterogeneous firms as well as free market entry/exit. In such a setting, we show that the share of low-productive firms operating in the market decreases (in-creases) in organization costs if those costs are relatively low (high). If more low-productive firms are active in the market, consumption and hence welfare decline because prices are, on average, higher (vice versa). As such, an increase in organization costs and thus a decline in unionization rates could be welfare-reducing. In addition, we find a hump-shaped relationship between organization costs and wage in-equality. These results suggest that a policy aiming to reduce union-ization by an increase in organization costs can but not necessarily have to be an improvement of the economic performance.
JEL: 
J51
L11
L16
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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