Unions and the wage distribution in Ireland

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of trade unions in Ireland on the first two moments of the wage distribution. Using data from the ESRI's 1987 Survey of Income Distribution, Poverty and Usage of State Services, a union membership mark-up of over 20 per cent is obtained. A smaller variance in wages is also observed for union members. Only small parts of the differentials in the mean and variance of the wage between union and non-union members are explained by differentials in worker characteristics. The larger unexplained components are taken to reflect, among other things, the role played by structural differences in the wage determining processes between the union and non-union sectors.