American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
A Biological Model of Unions
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 1,
no. 2, April 2009
(pp. 150–75)
Abstract
This paper applies principles from evolutionary biology to the study of unions. We show that unions that implement the preferred wage and organizing policies of workers will be displaced in evolutionary competition by unions that either extract less from firms, allowing them to live longer, or spend more on union organizing, or both. This implies that unions with constitutional incumbency advantages that allow leaders to depart from members' preferences may have a selective advantage, allowing them to grow at the expense of unions lacking such provisions. Evidence from the history of American unions supports these predictions. (JEL A12, J51)Citation
Kremer, Michael, and Benjamin A. Olken. 2009. "A Biological Model of Unions." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1 (2): 150–75. DOI: 10.1257/app.1.2.150Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A12 Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
- J51 Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
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