Studies of the Relationships Between Labor Unions, the Labor Environment, and Health Open Access
Wunderly, Samuel (Spring 2022)
Abstract
This dissertation is comprised of three essays studying right to work laws, labor unions, unemployment, workplace injuries, and self-rated health. The first essay focuses on the recent resurgence in right to work laws. While previous research focused on how right to work laws impact labor unions and the economy, little is known about how recent policy adoptions can influence workplace injury rates. Using a difference-in-differences approach on U.S. panel data from 1992 to 2018, I examine the impact of right to work enactments on fatal and nonfatal workplace injury rates. Findings suggest that a right to work passage leads to a small increase in fatal injuries while also decreasing nonfatal injuries, primarily nonfatal injuries which result in days away from work. The second essay analyzes the relationship between the unemployment rate and workplace injuries. The United States has been experiencing a decline in workplace injuries since the 1970s, driven by workplace safety legislation and improvements in technology. However, workplace injuries flattened with an economic expansion in 2010. Previous research studied an era of the US which vastly differs from the labor force today. I examine the relationship between the unemployment rate and workplace injuries in a new era. My findings show that a one percent increase in unemployment is related to a 17.8\% increase in nonfatal workplace injuries. The third essay analyzes the effect of labor union membership and representation on self-reported health. Union density has continued to decline despite the number of studies showing their positive influence on a worker's wage, job training, healthcare benefits, work environment, and psyche. However, empirical evidence of the labor union effect on worker health is lacking. I examine the effect of labor union membership and representation on worker self-reported health which is a strong indicator of health outcomes. My findings suggest that labor unions lead to an increase in self-reported health for union members when compared to those who are not represented by a union.
Table of Contents
Dissertation Introduction 1
1 Does Right to Work Hinder Your Right to Safety? The Effect of Right
to Work Laws on Workplace Injuries 6
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.1 Right to Work Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.2 How Right to Work Laws Impact Workplace Injuries Through Unions 11
1.2.3 How Right to Work Laws Impact Workplace Injuries Through An
Economic Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.4 Exogenous Workplace Injury Rate Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.3 Empirical Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.1 Multi-State Difference-in-Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.2 Generalized Synthetic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.3.3 Case Study Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.4 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.5 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.5.1 Multi-State Difference-in-Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.5.2 Generalized Synthetic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.5.3 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2 The Relationship Between the Unemployment Rate and Workplace Injuries
47
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.2 The Relationship Between Unemployment and Workplace Injuries . . . . 50
2.3 Estimation Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.4 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.5 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.5.1 National Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.5.2 Private vs Public Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.5.3 Differences in Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.5.4 Multiple Hypothesis Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3 The Effect of Labor Unions on Self-Rated Health 74
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.2 Mechanisms and Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.2.1 Indirect Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.2.2 Direct Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.3 Empirical Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.4 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.5 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
A Additional Tables and Figures for Chapter 1 113
B Additional Tables and Figures for Chapter 2 150
C Additional Tables and Figures for Chapter 3 195
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