UNIONS AND THE WAGE DISTRIBUTION IN IRELAND

This paper examines the effects of trade unions in Ireland on the firs t two moments of the wage distribution. Using data from the ESRI's 198 7 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 uni on and non-union members are explained by differentials in worker char acteristics. The larger unexplained components are taken to reflect, a mong other things, the role played by structural differences in the wa ge determining processes between the union and non-union sectors.