Is there really a faculty union salary premium?

• Published in: Industrial & labor relations review Vol. 64; no. 3; pp. 558 - 575
• Main Authors: Hedrick, David W, Henson, Steven E, Krieg, John M, Wassell, Charles S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University 01.04.2011; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic profession; Collective bargaining; College Faculty; Cost estimates; Cost of living; Cost of living adjustments; Cost of living indices; Educational institutions; Error of Measurement; Error rates; Estimation; Gewerkschaftszugehörigkeit; Higher education; Hochschullehrer; Labor management relations; Labor relations; Labor unionization; Labor unions; Lohn; Measurement; Measurement errors; Regression analysis; Salaries; Salary; Trade union membership; Unions; USA; Wage adjustments; Wage levels; Wages; Wages & salaries
• ISSN: 0019-7939; 2162-271X
• DOI: 10.1177/001979391106400307

Studies of the effects of unions on collegiate faculty salaries are inconclusive. Some estimate a significant union premium, but such estimates suffer from endogeneity between unions and wages, non-random measurement error, and failure to adjust for local cost-of-living differences. By using data from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF, 1988-2004) as well as other sources to identify institution-specific factors omitted from previous studies, the authors estimate significantly smaller union premia than those found by other researchers.