Asymmetries in the Union Wage Premium in Ghana

Blunch, Niels‐Hugo

doi:10.1093/wber/lhh040

Cited by 24 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Even controlling for industry the union premium in 1999 was 53.8 per cent, massively higher than that observed in OECD countries (see Table A5). Controlling for firm size, Blunch and Verner (2004) perform a similar analysis for the Ghanaian manufacturing sector and are unable to find a significant wage effect from unionization when looking at workers as a whole, but find a 34 per cent premium at the 10th percentile.…”

Section: Why Do Large Formal Sector Firms Pay Wages Far In Excess mentioning

confidence: 98%

Labour Market Flexibility, Wages and Incomes in Sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

Kingdon

Sandefur

Teal

2006

African Development Review

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This paper provides an overview of how African labour markets have performed in the 1990s. It is argued that the failure of African labour markets to create good paying jobs has resulted in excess labour supply in the form of either open unemployment or a growing self-employment sector. One explanation for this outcome is a lack of labour market 'flexibility' keeping formal sector wages above their equilibrium level and restricting job creation. We identify three attributes of labour market flexibility. First, whether real wages decline over time; secondly, the tendency for wages to adjust in the face of unemployment; and thirdly, the extent of wage differentials between sectors and/or firms of various size. Recent research shows that real wages in Africa during the 1990s may have been more downwardly flexible than previously thought and have been surprisingly responsive to unemployment rates, yet large wage differentials between formal and informal sector firms remain. This third sense of the term 'inflexibility' can explain a common factor across diverse African economies -the high income divide between those working in large firms and those not. Those working in the thriving selfemployment sector in Ghana have something in common with the unemployed in South Africa -both have very low income opportunities relative to those in large firms.

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Section: Why Do Large Formal Sector Firms Pay Wages Far In Excess mentioning

confidence: 98%

Labour Market Flexibility, Wages and Incomes in Sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

Kingdon

Sandefur

Teal

2006

African Development Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even controlling for industry the union premium in 1999 was 53.8%, massively higher than that observed in OECD countries. Controlling for firm size, Blunch and Verner (2004) perform a similar analysis for the Ghanaian manufacturing sector and are unable to find a significant wage effect from unionisation when looking at workers as a whole, but find a 34% premium at the 10th percentile.…”

Section: Unionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

The price of labour and understanding the causes of poverty

Teal

2011

Labour Economics

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“…They find, that dependent on the type of correction mechanism, the wage gap for urban African males increased over the period 1985–1993 from 8 per cent to 20 per cent. Blunch and Verner () report an estimated wage gap of about 6 per cent for Ghana. Baah () reports that the Ghana wage gap increased ranges between 7.8 and 12.6 percentage points in 1992 and 1999.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are There Gains to Joining a Union? Evidence from Mexico

Rufrancos

2019

Brit J Industrial Rel

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Union density in Mexico has been in decline since the 1980s. This article provides evidence on the worker compensation gains (losses) made by males upon joining (leaving) a union. These are estimated using a nationally representative labour market survey covering 2005q1-2016q1. The transitions between nonunion and union status are investigated using a difference-in-difference estimator. The findings suggest that joining a union is associated with modest wage gains, contrary to what the literature has shown for most industrialized nations. However, in contrast to this, some union leavers are found to experience a decrease in wages. This article also contributes to the wider literature by providing the first estimates of the longitudinal gain (loss) associated with joining (leaving) a union with respect to non-wage benefits. The findings show joining (leaving) a union increases (decreases) the probability of being in receipt of legally guaranteed benefits such as bonuses and paid holidays. This suggests that although union density may be in decline, unions still have an important role to play in voicing worker's preferences with respect to compensation and ensuring that employers comply with the law.

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Asymmetries in the Union Wage Premium in Ghana

Cited by 24 publications

References 17 publications

Labour Market Flexibility, Wages and Incomes in Sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

Labour Market Flexibility, Wages and Incomes in Sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

The price of labour and understanding the causes of poverty

Are There Gains to Joining a Union? Evidence from Mexico

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