The importance of lifetime jobs: Differences between union and nonunion workers.

The authors use CPS micro data to derive estimates of retention rates and eventual lifetime tenure probabilities for union and nonunion workers. Although both groups enjoy a considerable degree of near-lifetime employment (defined as eventual tenure of 20 + years with the firm), union workers evince measurably higher eventual tenure than their nonunion counterparts, especially among those with lower current tenure. A separate analysis suggests that this outcome may result in part from better job matching for union than for nonunion workers. The authors hypothesize that union workers enjoy an informational advantage in the labor market. (Abstract courtesy JSTOR.)