Power Matters: Essays on Unions, Wages and Labor Markets

Study 1: Union Wage Effects in Sweden: Evidence from the Interwar Period

In this paper I use a new plant-level dataset to investigate the relationship between wages and the regional strength of unions. Using a shift-share, or ’Bartik’, instrumental variables approach I disentangle the causal effect of union strength on wage levels. I find statistically and economically significant, heterogenous, union wage effects for men with the bottom of the distribution being impacted by union density and the top two thirds being unaffected. I find a negative effect around the median for women and argue that unions in general were uninterested in the women’s issue and were organisations mostly by men, for men. The paper contributes to the literature by providing the only evidence of a union wage effect in Sweden and perhaps the earliest union wage effect found anywhere - highlighting the importance of unions in shaping labor market outcomes in the early 20th century and showing that union wage effects have to be understood in their historical context.

Forthcoming in Explorations in Economic History

Study 2: Bargaining for a Bite: Exploring the Evolution of Minimum Wages in Sweden

In this paper I estimate the minimum wage bite for several industries in Sweden using new data on nationally bargained minimum wage rates. I show that the importance of centralized bargaining increased only after 1960 and challenge previous assumptions about centralized bargaining. In turn using this new series on the minimum wage bite I argue that national agreements likely played only a limited role in structural change during the 20th century. Instead I propose looking at different wage policies and aspects of agreements to capture the economic effects of centralized bargaining.

Study 3: Unions and the Great Leveling

In this paper we investigate the role of unionization in shaping the income distribution in two countries, the US and Sweden. We highlight union effects over time and across countries, showing that unions impacted incomes and the income distribution.

Participating researcher:

• Jakob Molinder

Study 4: Regional Labor Market Structure During Industrialization

In this paper we use a novel dataset on plants to estimate local labor market concentration throughout the second industrial revolution. We combine existing data from the 19th century with new plant-level data for the first half of the 20th century to understand how labor market concentration developed. We also use census and taxation records to understand how individuals with different degrees of mobility were affected by monopsony.

Participating researchers:

• Jakob Molinder
• Johan Ericsson
• Thor Berger