The Effects of Labor Unions on Employment, Wages, and Days of Operation: Coal Mining in West Virginia

Abstract

We present a framework for measuring the joint impact of labor unions on wages, employment, and days of work. Our particular application uses county level observations to measure the impact of unionism in West Virginia coal mining from 1897 to 1938. The widespread belief is that union-nonunion wage differentials in coal mining during this period were of the order of 50 percent or more. Our estimates are substantially less. We measure negligible differences in union-nonunion employment, while, in the 1920s, operating days in unionized mines were about 25 percent below those in nonunion mines.