Union Wage Effects in Australia: Are There Variations in Distribution?

Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 17/07

39 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2007

See all articles by Lixin Cai

Lixin Cai

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research

Amy Y.C. Liu

Crawford School of Public Policy

Date Written: June 2007

Abstract

Previous research on union wage effects in Australia has focused on the central parts of the conditional wage distribution. This study uses quantile regression models to examine whether the union wage effect varies across the (conditional) wage distribution. The data draw upon the first four waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Union wage premiums are found across almost the entire wage distribution for both males and females. While for males it is evident that the union wage effect decreases when moving up the wage distribution, the effect for females is relatively stable except at the extremities of the distribution. Overall, unions are found to have a larger effect on male than on female wages. The decomposition results show that for males, the union wage effect explains a substantial proportion of the observed wage gap between union and non-union workers; this is not the case for females.

Suggested Citation

Cai, Lixin and Liu, Amy Y.C., Union Wage Effects in Australia: Are There Variations in Distribution? (June 2007). Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 17/07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=995977 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.995977

Lixin Cai (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )

Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia

Amy Y.C. Liu

Crawford School of Public Policy ( email )

ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia
61-2-6125 0177 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://crawford.anu.edu.au/crawford_people/content/staff/aliu.php