THE EMPIRICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EMPLOYERS STRIKER REPLACEMENT STRATEGIES AND STRIKE DURATION

This analysis of General Accounting Office survey data on strikes in 1 985 and 1989 shows that employers' permanent replacement of striking w orkers was associated with longer strikes than would otherwise have oc curred. Furthermore, the authors find that simply announcing the inten t to replace strikers was also associated with longer strikes. Finally , when employers permanently replaced strikers, the probability of set tlement fell approximately 30%. These findings are consistent with mod els focusing on the joint costs of a strike and on private information in the bargaining process.