Working Paper: NBER ID: w9591
Authors: Joni Hersch
Abstract: How can workers have a voice in the face of declining unionization and rising nontraditional career paths? To demonstrate how a new labor market institution can emerge, I develop a model of fundraising by a workers' organization in which the founder must allocate resources between the provision of public goods, which attracts foundation grants, and the provision of private goods, which attracts individual members. My case study for analyzing the performance of the model is Working Today, a new organization founded with the objectives of representing all workers and shifting employment rights from the current employer-based regime to one that assigns rights to individuals. Working Today has evolved from an organization funded by foundation grants that attempted to represent all workers, to primarily serving as an intermediary to provide group health insurance for independent workers. In order to examine the market for health insurance supplied by an organization such as Working Today, I provide statistics on the insurance coverage status and demographic characteristics of non-standard workers and traditional employees.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ability of a workers organization to attract funding (L39) | type of goods it provides (H41) |
| public goods (H41) | attract foundation grants (L31) |
| private goods (H41) | draw individual members (Y10) |
| organization's focus on providing portable benefits (J32) | greater funding stability (I22) |
| greater funding stability (I22) | ability to serve independent workers (J54) |
| organization's operational focus (L21) | funding sources (I22) |
| challenges of sustaining an organization with a broad goal (L21) | effectiveness of the lobby (D72) |
| access to portable benefits (J32) | strong constituency (D72) |
| strong constituency (D72) | advocate for policy changes benefiting independent workers (J68) |
| organizational focus (L21) | welfare of nonstandard workers (J89) |