- Title
- Bargaining Power, Strike Durations, and Wage Outcomes: An Analysis of Strikes in the 1880s
- Author(s)
- David Card David Card (Princeton University)
- Craig A. Olson Craig Olson (Princeton University and University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Abstract
- We study strike durations and outcomes for some 2000 disputes that occurred between 1881 and 1886. Most post-strike bargaining settlements in the 1880s fell into one of two categories: either a union "victory", characterized by a significant wage gain or hours cut, or a union "defeat", characterized by the resumption of work at the previous terms of employment. We find a strong negative relation between strike duration and the value of the settlement to workers, reflecting the declining probability of a union victory among longer strikes. For the subset of strikes over wage increases we estimate a structural model that includes equations for the capitulation times of the two parties and a specification of the wage increase conditional on a union victory. We find strong support for a relative bargaining power hypothesis: factors that enhance the workers' ability to withstand a strike tend to raise the wage increase in the event of a successful strike, while factors that enhance the employer's ability to withstand a strike tend to lower the wage increase in the event of a union victory.
- Creation Date
- 1992-01
- Section URL ID
- IRS
- Paper Number
- 294
- URL
- https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp01xs55mc07s/1/294.pdf
- File Function
- Jel
- C30, C31, C32
- Keyword(s)
- strikes, bargaining power, strike duration
- Suppress
- false
- Series
- 1