Does Right-To-Work Work? Open Access

Varadi, Kimberly Anne (2015)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/9306sz87z?locale=en
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Abstract

Using data from the 2013 American Community Survey, this paper examines the impact of right- to-work (RTW) constitutional amendments and statutes on the wages and employment of 1) those most susceptible to poverty: African Americans, Hispanics, and single mothers and 2) the two most unionized private sector industries: the utilities industry and transportation and warehousing industry. It also considers the policy's effect on state unemployment levels. For all demographic groups and industries considered, there is a statistically significant lower wage for employees in RTW states than in non-RTW states and statistically significant lower odds of employment for Hispanic and utilities workers. These findings hold true regardless of an individual's education level, work experience, hours worked per year, regional location, state unemployment rate, and state poverty rate. At the state level, right-to-work legislation had a statistically significant impact on reducing state unemployment rates in 2013, with the most decrease in unemployment in states with a RTW constitutional amendment.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Contributions 8

Literature Review 9

Theoretical Framework 14

Data and Empirical Strategy 18

Results 26

Discussion 30

Limitations 31

Conclusion 32

References 33

Appendix. 39

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