Right-to-Work Laws: A Brief Review

Abstract

This study provides a review of important legal cases and empirical studies on Right-to-Work RTW laws. Twenty-seven US states have passed RTW laws since 1946, but the proposed Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act 2021 intends to override some of their important provisions. Evidence on RTW laws will therefore be widely in demand as the PRO Act starts getting increased legislative attention. Our study provides a brief background on RTW laws, reviews important legal cases, groups congruous empirical findings into broad themes, identifies topics on which there is still turbidity in findings, and points out areas that are likely to receive increased research attention going forward.

Keywords: Right to Work, union security agreements, free riding, industrial migrationd]

JEL Classification: B20, B25, B26, D31, E10, G32, H73, J20, L51