%0 Report
        %A Polachek, Solomon
        %T What Can We Learn About the Decline in U.S. Union Membership from International Data?
        %D 2003
        %8 2003 Oct
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 896
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp896
        %X This paper is composed of two parts. First, using international data, I corroborate that union
density in the U.S. declined because of asymmetric growth between the union and nonunion
sectors. I show union density to increase in countries experiencing strong manufacturing
growth, and to decline in countries undergoing large women’s increases in nonagricultural
employment. Second, I borrow from international relations research on war and peace to
develop a cogent reason why union density differs by sector. In this vein, I apply a model
primarily used to describe bilateral political interactions to figure out why workers often
engage in hostile activities such as strikes. In doing so, I look at the contentious rather than
the cooperative “face” of unions.
        %K manufacturing growth
%K union density
%K unions
%K international relations