Union Contracts and Money Wage Changes in U. S. Manufacturing Industries

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between wage changes negotiated in selected large collective bargaining agreements and industry-wide changes in average hourly earnings. Multiple regressions are used to examine the relationship in two-digit manufacturing industries for the period 1958II to 1978IL Negotiated wage changes are found to have a major impact on overall movements in hourly earnings. The estimated equations have potential applications for short-run wage forecasting and for policy analyses.