The Economic Effects of Right to Work Laws

Right to work (RTW) laws have had growing labor market importance, as the proportion of Americans living in RTW states has risen over time, mainly because of a large in-migration of labor and capital. In the 2000–2009 period alone, over 5 million Americans moved into RTW states from non-RTW jurisdictions. This resource movement has led to greater output growth in RTW states. Controlling for other factors, it appears RTW is positively associated with rising income per capita as well, and arguably an improved quality of life if migration statistics are any indicator. The long term political equilibrium that has led to little change over time in the adoption of RTW laws could end as pro-RTW forces gain political clout relative to their union opponents.     

Right-to-Work Laws and Geographic Differences in Living Costs: An Analysis of Effects of the 'Union Shop' Ban for the Years 1974, 1976, and 1978

A bstract . The existence in a geographic area of right-to-work laws prohibiting the union shop tends to generate a labor-market environment with less union power and thus less labor-market pressure to elevate labor costs. To the extent that right-to-work legislation leads to lower labor costs and hence to lower unit production costs , there is a tendency for the overall cost of living in the area to be lower. Using ordinary least squares, this paper examines this hypothesis for the years 1974, 1976, and 1978 for some ]8 metropolitan areas in the United States. In a variety of different empirical models, this study generates very strong factual support for this right-to-work law/living-cost relationship.     

Choosing union representation: the role of attitudes and emotions

In the United States, most unions are recognised by a majority vote of employees through union representation elections administered by the government. Most empirical studies of individual voting behaviour during union representation elections use a rational choice model. Recently, however, some have posited that voting is often influenced by emotions. We evaluate competing hypotheses about the determinants of union voting behaviour by using data collected from a 2010 representation election at Delta Air Lines, a US‐based company. In addition to the older rational choice framework, multiple regression results provide support for an emotional choice model. Positive feelings toward the employer are statistically significantly related to voting ‘no’ in a representation election, while positive feelings toward the union are related to a ‘yes’ vote. Effect sizes for the emotion variables were generally larger than those for the rational choice variables, suggesting that emotions may play a key role in representation election outcomes.     

The forced registration of hedge funds in the United States

This article recounts the history of hedge fund regulation in the United States over the last century, including Congressional legislation as well as legal cases mounted both by and against the Securities and Exchange Commission. Traditional arguments for and against hedge fund regulation are discussed. The article argues that neither hedge funds nor their managers should be regulated—whether directly or indirectly. Rather, financial or trusted advisors who recommend these products to investors should bear the regulatory burden.     

Organizational governance and the grievance process: In need of a new model for resolving workplace issues

This article begins by providing insights from the research literature on the union and nonunion grievance processes in the United States. We then take a look at the status of “voice” in the American workplace and identify both inherent and practical implementation problems in providing employee “voice” regarding workplace rules. Finally, we lay out the elements of a viable system that would best meet the criteria for procedural and substantive due process in the employment relationship.     

Union organizing in Britain: a survey of policy and practice

Analysis of the reasons for trade union decline in developed economies has pointed to their failure to invest in effective methods of recruitment as a contributory factor. This article presents survey and case research to examine the extent to which union failure in recruitment and organizing has been rectified in the United Kingdom. The evidence indicates a varied but nevertheless substantial re-direction of union effort towards recruitment since the mid-1990s and is used to identify the characteristics of 'recruiting unions' which have invested more heavily and adopted more ambitious recruitment targets. Recruiting unions are found to be those which are receptive to learning new approaches to recruitment from overseas and which have relatively advanced arrangements for the representation of women and minorities in their internal systems of government.     

The Globalization of Privacy

A bstract . The Council of Europe is currently considering a directive that would harmonize data protection laws throughout the European Community. If approved, this directive would affect exchanges of personal information between European countries and the United States. This article argues that the proposed Data Protection Directive will lead to a strengthening of American privacy laws. This will occur not as a simple reaction to a perceived economic threat, but because a number of social, economic and political changes in the privacy environment in the United States converge at this time. The European Directive presents an opportunity for policy change to occur, but will not be the cause of the change.     

USING LEGISLATION TO REDUCE ONE‐TIME PLASTIC BAG USAGE

Plastic bag litter generates serious environmental concerns and poses a risk to wildlife. As this does not seem to be a problem which can be resolved by the private sector alone, or by ‘Coasean’ negotiation, legislation is proposed, particularly focusing on ‘one‐use’ bags. This article surveys legislation worldwide, while concentrating on lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom. The issues are more complex than is often assumed. While environmentalists argue for restriction and ultimate elimination of one‐use bags, manufacturers, especially those that have reformulated the composition of their bags, see legislation as an overreaction to a problem that is already being addressed within the industry. They cite evidence that, when used within a comprehensive recycling programme, plastic bags are not only cost‐effective but a sound use of our limited resources. Bans or restrictions can have knock‐on effects which can create new problems.     

Ver.di and trade union revitalisation in Germany

Recent research on the fate of organised labour in western Europe has emphasised the capacity trade unions have to develop and implement revitalisation strategies as well as the fact that different trade union movements implement different strategies. In the case of Germany, trade unions have tended to defend existing mechanisms of social partnership and restructure the movement through mergers. This article argues that this approach has severe limitations given the diverse transformation of the German political economy. It presents research on the revitalisation strategies of Germany's new service sector trade union Ver.di established in 2001. The article argues that Ver.di has an awareness of the necessity of adopting new and comprehensive strategies for revitalisation, but that it is tending towards traditional strategies. This disadvantages those regions and sectors where institutions of industrial relations are not embedded.     

Trust in management: the role of employee voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions

This study examines the relationship between employee voice arrangements and employees' trust in management using data from the 2007 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey of 1,022 employees. Drawing on social exchange theory and employee relations literature, we test hypotheses concerning the relationships between direct and union voice arrangements, perceived managerial opposition to unions and employees' trust in management. Consistent with our predictions, after controlling for a range of personal, job and workplace characteristics, regression analyses indicated that direct voice arrangements were positively related to employees' trust in management. Union voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions were negatively related to trust in management. The article concludes by highlighting the study's implications for management practice and avenues for further research.     

国外一般消费品召回管理机构及召回信息公示工作对我国的启示

2010年《家用电器产品召回管理规定》征求意见稿已面向全社会征求意见。在我国一般消费品召回比起汽车召回才刚刚起步。文章从美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、欧盟、日本等几个一般消费品召回较成熟的国家或地区出发，分析了一般消费品的召回管理机构、法律、召回公示信息等内容，以期对我国一般消费品制度、法律及信息：佥示等内容起到借鉴作用。     

The legislation of environmental disclosures in three Nordic countries—a comparison

This paper compares the legislation in Denmark, Norway and Sweden concerning what kind of environmental information firms must disclose. These three Nordic countries have great similarities regarding accounting legislation and standards. However, Denmark has chosen a different way to force firms to disclose their environmental performance compared with Norway and Sweden. Danish firms must deliver separate ‘green accounts’, while Norwegian and Swedish firms are bound to report on environmental issues in the administrative report. The Norwegian and Swedish firms' information mainly addresses the financial consequences of environmental impact and the Norwegian legislation is also found to be more extensive than the Swedish legislation. The information from the Danish firms addresses society in general. The comparison indicates some interesting topics for further analysis, e.g. how the extensive demands in Norway for information about products' impacts when discharged may be fulfilled. As a background for this comparison, an outline of the discussions about voluntary versus regulated environmental information is given as well as an overview of some international standards and recommendations concerning firms' environmental disclosures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.     

Union Influence and Right-to-Work Law Passage

A bstract . Urban and labor economists have examined macro and micro effects of the passage of right-to-work laws in various states. These laws prohibit unions from negotiating bargains that require new and previous hires to join the union. The results have been suggestive, pointing out that cost-of-living indices are dramatically influenced by the presence of unionized workers.
This analysis describes the economic and political evolution necessary for the legal passage of right to-work laws. Although individual studies have pointed out that a low degree of unionization is necessary for the passage of such laws, no study has attempted to describe the timing of the decline in unionization rates as it relates to the passage of these laws. To test this thesis, a discrete-time or hazard model is employed. Evidence suggests that a low threshold of union activity must be reached before an individual state will adopt such labor laws. Also important in the analysis is the degree of construction and manufacturing within each state, as well as public choice determinants of legislative activity such as the role of the Democratic Party. The discrete-time model suggests that a declining union membership is important in determining the "timing" of the adoption of right-to-work laws by states, as well as the actual adoption of these laws by states.     

Employee representation and partnership in the non‐union sector: a paradox of intention?

Non‐union forms of employee representation have become increasingly prominent in UK workplaces in the last 15 years. In addition, partnership working has been encouraged by New Labour, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Confederation of British Industry and the TUC as a route to higher commitment and higher individual and organisational performance. These trends have been further encouraged by recent European Union legislation. This article seeks to examine the implied linkages between non‐union employee representative mechanisms and partnership working and their influence on the effectiveness of employee voice as a conduit of high performance. The article is based on a case study organisation from within the UK finance sector, and data are drawn from semi‐structured interviews with managers and staff and a survey of employee attitudes. The article concludes that employers’ attempts to utilise a non‐union partnership framework for organisational gain are severely constrained by structural limitations on effective employee voice.     

How Right to Work Is Destroying the American Labor Movement: From the Ku Klux Klan to the Tea Party

This essay examines recent efforts to enact right to work laws and analyzes the impact of such laws on union development. The argument is that right to work is an invidious anomaly in federal collective bargaining policy, and Section 14(b) should be eliminated from the National Labor Relations Act. Proponents of right to work legislation claim that such laws promote economic development, but the evidence for that claim is unconvincing. Alternatively, supporters of the legislation assert that it promotes individual liberties in our market economy. Opponents of right to work challenge the normative dimension of right to work as an empty ideology that cannot withstand critical scrutiny. Right to work is inimical to the economic and social interests of American workers.     

The implications of de‐collectivist industrial relations laws and associated developments for worker health and safety in Australia, 1996–2007

The institutional and regulatory interlinkages between industrial relations (IR) and occupational health and safety (OHS) are seldom explored in the IR literature. This article begins to address this gap by examining regulatory initiatives in Australia during a period of neoliberal government. It examines the laws enacted by the federal government during this period and events and cases arising from these laws that go some way to illustrating their effects. Evidence is also drawn from detailed research on a number of state OHS inspectorates between 2004 and 2006. It is argued that de‐collectivist changes to IR laws exacerbated problems posed by the growth of flexible work arrangements and a drop in union density, weakening participatory provisions in OHS laws and promoting work arrangements that undermined OHS standards. The study provides evidence of the implications of a divergence in the trajectory of IR and OHS laws and the importance of better integrating worker protection laws.     

The Structure and Growth of the Credit Union Industry in the United states: Meeting Challenges of the Market

A bstract . Credit Unions in the United States have grown significantly in recent years. This paper identifies and analyzes the unique characteristics of the credit union industry contributing to this growth. The consolidation of smaller institutions and product diversification among larger credit unions in the environment of financial deregulation in recent years has resulted in enhanced services for credit union members. The industry is expected to continue its growth in membership and assets relative to other depository intermediaries.     

US Immigration Levels,Urban Housing Values,and their Implications for Capital Share

This article applies previously estimated effects of immigration on housing values to urban counties in the United States. Our findings here also help estimate how much of the increase in the net capital share of income since 1970 as observed by Piketty ( 2014 ) is caused by immigration. We find that in most urban counties in the United States, increased levels of immigration have had a modest but non‐negligible effect on the level of real estate prices and, per Rognlie ( 2015 ), likely capital share. These estimates provide hard numbers for the public debate over immigration policy in the United States, with implications elsewhere as well.     

The Significance of the Living Wage for US Workers in the Early Twenty-First Century

This article provides an introduction to the importance of the living wage for low-wage workers in the United States. Described as a wage based on an estimation of the official poverty threshold for a family of four, the living wage, as an alternative to the minimum wage, is based on the notion that people working at full-time jobs, and their families, should not have to live in poverty. After discussing the emergence and growth of living wage campaigns in the United States, this essay discusses the coverage and provisions of living wage statutes, the economic effects of living wage ordinances as well as additional benefits provided to workers and unions from living wage statute implementation. The article concludes that due to the current economic conditions in the United States, the struggle to attain a living wage will become increasingly relevant in the coming years.     

Environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250: exploring the influence of nationality and sector

While research on environmental reporting frequently includes large multinational enterprises, the number of surveys that systematically analyses a whole set of such firms, including the non‐reporters, is limited – and mainly focuses on the United States. This article presents the state of environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250, all large multinationals with a potentially large impact on other firms. Of these 250 firms, 35% has a recent environmental report, with another 32% publishing other types of environmental information. Reporting frequencies between the financial and non‐financial sector differed considerably, at 15 and 44% respectively. Besides an analysis of the number and contents of environmental reports, the importance of sectoral differences and firms' nationality is also considered. A framework is developed that posits the existence of reporting legislation in firms' home countries (some in place/pending, or none) against the direct environmental impact of the sector (large or small). The results of the analysis fit partially in this framework. Only a small number of reporting firms originates from countries with some kind of legislation (particularly The Netherlands), but national societal pressure seems to play a large role (especially in the UK, The Netherlands and Germany). Many operate in sectors with a substantial direct environmental impact (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil and motor vehicles and parts); reporting in sectors with more indirect effects is getting off the ground. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment