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Abstract

Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 140-155 (2009)

“Union Wage and Voice Effects and Nonunion Workers' Attitude Toward Unionization -Before and After Japan's Lost Decade-”
Tsuyoshi Tsuru (Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University), Takashi Yoshinaka (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan), Hiroyuki Enoki (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), Hidenobu Tokuda (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan)

Using microdata derived from the same questionnaire surveys conducted in 1992 and 2007, this paper examines changes in the economic effects of labor unions and attitudes toward unionization among nonunion workers. The main findings are as follows. First, while no union wage effects were observed in 1992, a wage premium for male workers was found in 2007. However, no change was observed for female workers. Second, with regard to union voice effects, no such effect was evident in 1992, but in 2007, a decline among men in the propensity for voluntary quitting (and, to some extent, job satisfaction) was found. In contrast, among women, no such union voice effects could be detected. Third, among male nonunion workers, support for unionization had increased between 1992 and 2007. On other hand, the increase in support for unionization among female nonunion workers was scant when compared with that for their male counterparts. Furthermore, if there were other, nonunion forms of representing employees' vice at the workplace, this largely substituted for female support for unionization.