Working Paper: NBER ID: w12025
Authors: Thomas J. Holmes
Abstract: Unionism in the United States is contagious; it spills out of coal mines and steel mills into other establishments in the neighborhood, like hospitals and supermarkets. The geographic spillover of unionism is documented here using a newly constructed establishment level data on unionism that is rich in geographic detail. A strong connection is found between unionism of health care establishments today and proximity to unionized coal mines and steel mills from the 1950s.
Keywords: Unionism; Geographic Spillover; Labor Economics
JEL Codes: J5; R0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| transmission of positive attitudes towards unions from workers in unionized industries (J51) | increase in likelihood of unionization in nonunion sectors (J59) |
| proximity to mining and metal establishments from the 1950s (L72) | probability of a nontraded good establishment being unionized today (J59) |
| increase in spillover from 0 to 0.01 (F69) | increase in unionization probability by approximately 39 times (J50) |
| state-level anti-union policies, racial demographics, and immigration history (J58) | influence on unionization rates (J51) |