Wage Rates, Concentration and Unionization in French Manufacturing Industries

The influence of concentration and unionization at the industry level on the wage rates of a large sample is examined. There are four main conclusions drawn from the empirical analysis: 1. The hypothesis of a positive association between concentration and wages in industries with low unionization is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of industrial economics 1978-06, Vol.26 (4), p.315-327
Main Author: Jenny, Frédéric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Impacts
Industrial concentration
Industrial economics
Industrial market
Industrial productivity
Industrial unions
Industries
Labor unionization
Labor unions
Manufacturers
Monopoly
Regression analysis
Unionization
Wage rate
Wage rates
Wage theories
Wages
Wages & salaries
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Summary:The influence of concentration and unionization at the industry level on the wage rates of a large sample is examined. There are four main conclusions drawn from the empirical analysis: 1. The hypothesis of a positive association between concentration and wages in industries with low unionization is supported. 2. Unionization is positively related to wage income in weakly concentrated industries but not significantly correlated with it when concentration on the product market is high. 3. If concentrated industries pay their workers more than their opportunity cost and if the labor market is monopolized by the unions in some unconcentrated industries, the analysis of inter-industry variations in profit rates will underestimate the misallocation of resources in the industrial sector. 4. A positive association between concentration and wage rates in France might help understanding why the unions never criticize the anticompetitive strategies of monopolies and cartels.
ISSN:0022-1821
1467-6451
DOI:10.2307/2098077