This article explores the question of whether unionization influences the decision of a firm to merge with another firm. We combine merger data, taken from COMPUSTAT, with firm-specific union data obtained from several sources. An econometric matching model allows us to isolate the effects of...

This paper summarizes recent empirical work on displaced workers. Although widely distributed, displacement is strongly counter cyclical and concentrated in less-educated occupations and in industries and states doing relatively poorly. There has been a shift toward plant closings and more...

This paper explores the question of whether unionization influences the decision of a firm to merge with another firm. We combine merger data, taken from COMPUSTAT, with firm-specific union data obtained from several sources. An econometric matching model allows us to isolate the effects of...

If nominal wages cannot fall, then positive inflation may facilitate real wage adjustment. We examine data on individuals' wage changes and find only limited evidence of such downward nominal rigidity. The shape of the distribution of wage changes is little affected by the rate of inflation....

This paper investigates seasonality in U.S. payroll employment using a multivariate, unobserved components model. The model allows for interaction between seasonality in industry-level employment and a quot;common cyclequot; that captures the comovement in the disaggregated data. The common...

This paper provides the first application of the compensating differential paradigm to the evaluation of the extent and sources of evolution in state quality-of-life. The compensating differentials approach derives from early work by Rosen (1979) and Roback (1982), who showed how to extract...

Minimum wages increase the probability that teenagers leave school to become employed or work more hours, and increase the probability that they leave school and become non-enrolled and non-employed. Minimum wages also increase the probability that lower-wage employed teenagers become...

Since 2007, the labor force participation rate has fallen from about 66 percent to about 63 percent. The sources of this decline have been widely debated among academics and policymakers, with some arguing that the participation rate is depressed due to weak labor demand while others argue that...

Since 2007, the labor force participation rate has fallen from about 66 percent to about 63 percent. The sources of this decline have been widely debated among academics and policymakers, with some arguing that the participation rate is depressed due to weak labor demand while others argue that...