Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18251
Authors: Laura Boudreau; Rocco Macchiavello; Virginia Minni; Mari Tanaka
Abstract: Social movements are catalysts for crucial institutional changes. To succeed, they must coordinate members’ views (consensus building) and actions (mobilization). We study union leaders within Myanmar’s burgeoning labor movement. Union leaders are positively selected on both personality traits that enable them to influence others and ability but earn lower wages. In group discussions about workers’ views on an upcoming national minimum wage negotiation, randomly embedded leaders build consensus around the union’s preferred policy. In an experiment that mimics individual decision-making in a collective action set-up, leaders increase mobilization through coordination. Leaders empower social movements by building consensus that encourages mobilization.
Keywords: Leaders; Unions; Consensus-Building; Mobilization; Field Experiments
JEL Codes: J51; J52; D23; D70; C93
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| union leaders (J51) | workers' views on minimum wage levels (J38) |
| union leaders (J51) | consensus around the union's preferred minimum wage (J38) |
| union leaders (J51) | mobilization for collective actions (D70) |
| presence of a leader (M54) | attendance at a cost-of-living survey (J30) |