PUBLIC-SECTOR EARNINGS AND THE EXTENT OF UNIONIZATION

Many studies have examined the influence of union density (union membe rs as a percentage of all workers) on earnings in the private sector, but few such studies have looked at the public sector. Using data from the 1991 Current Population Survey, this study estimates the determin ants of earnings for state and local government employees in both tile union and nonunion sectors, The extent of public sector unionization appears to be positively correlated with earnings for both state and l ocal government workers and for those covered and not covered by colle ctive agreements. Although the effect for non-covered employees is sma ller than that for covered employees, both effects are larger than tho se typically found in similar estimates for the private sector. The au thors also find that bargaining structure has some influence on earnin gs, with the most consistent effect being a positive influence of arbi tration on the earnings of local government workers.