The wage impact of trade unions in the UK public and private sectors

Citation

Blanchflower D & Bryson A (2010) The wage impact of trade unions in the UK public and private sectors. Economica, 77 (305), pp. 92-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2008.00726.x

Abstract
There is a growing gap in the union membership wage premium between public and private-sector workers in the United Kingdom. Using the Labour Force Surveys of 1993-2006, the gap between the membership premium in the public and private sectors closes with the addition of three-digit occupational controls, although significant wage premia remain in both sectors. However, using the Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2004, the public-sector union membership wage premium remains roughly twice the size of the private-sector membership premium, having accounted for workplace fixed effects and workers' occupations, job characteristics, qualifications and demographics.

Journal
Economica: Volume 77, Issue 305