Provoking Preferences: Unionization, Trade Policy, and the ILWU Puzzle

Abstract

If any group of American blue-collar workers has benefited from the growth of trade it is the unionized dockworkers along the US West Coast. Nevertheless, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) representing these workers is vocally opposed to trade liberalization. We examine several competing explanations for this puzzle and evaluate them by tracing the union's stance on trade over several decades. We also use an original survey to compare ILWU affiliates' attitudes on trade with those of nonmembers with otherwise similar characteristics. Consistent with a model of organizational socialization, the data support the hypothesis that ILWU membership affects the members' revealed political opinions; the data are difficult to reconcile with standard theories of international trade. Our findings indicate that the political support for trade depends not just on voters' structural positions in the economy but also on the organizations and networks in which they are embedded.

Informed Preferences? The Impact of Unions on Workers' Policy Views

“…Cognizant of this deficiency, Ahlquist, Clayton, and Levi (2014) provide what is perhaps the most careful and nuanced new set of insights on the matter. Focusing on a case study of a dockworkers' union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and using a survey of workers in three U.S. localities, the authors employ a matching procedure to get an estimate of the "union effect" on workers' attitudes.…”

How Employers Recruit Their Workers into Politics—And Why Political Scientists Should Care

“…9 Dahl 1986. 18 Indeed, many states that protect employees' political speech rights do not address the issue of employer political coercion (Volokh 2011(Volokh -2012 Ahlquist et al 2014;Freeman 2003;Leighley and Nagler 2007. Bensel 2004Keyssar 2009.…”

The compensation hypothesis goes east: FDI and welfare state demand in postcommunist countries

“…For example, Khabeer and Mahmud () and Alquist et al. () sample respondents from their groups of interest with a control group from the surrounding localities. In this study, survey sites were chosen by matching cities according to propensity scores on an investment attractiveness index, geographic remoteness and population.…”

“…Following other research that examines the effects of specific influences on workers (Khabeer & Mahmud ; Alquist et al. ; Bynner & Heinz ), I begin with a targeted, matched sample of workers in Ukraine. Matching attempts to minimise, though not entirely eliminate, potential differences between MNC employees and workers at domestically owned firms (DOFs) as such differences make it difficult to draw inferences about the effects of MNC employment.…”