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Unionization and plant closure in Canada

Author

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  • Tony Fang
  • John S. Heywood
Abstract
This paper examines for the first time the role of unionization as a determinant of plant closings in Canada. Using the 1999 to 2001 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, the paper contributes to the North American evidence by showing that the share of a plant's workers covered by collective bargaining has a robust positive partial correlation with the probability of larger plants closing. For smaller plants, the extent of unionization tends to be much lower and its variation plays no role in plant closure. The study highlights the theoretical and statistical importance of examining closure separately for large and small plants. Ce mémoire examine pour la première fois le rôle de la syndicalisation en tant que déterminant de la fermeture d'usines au Canada. A l'aide des résultats de l'Enquête sur le milieu de travail et les employés de 1999 et de 2001 (EMTE), le texte contribue à enrichir le dossier qui montre qu'il y a corrélation positive partielle robuste entre la portion des travailleurs d'usines couverts par une convention collective et la probabilité de fermeture des grandes usines. Pour les plus petites usines, le degré de syndicalisation tend àêtre plus faible et sa variation ne joue pas de rôle dans le processus de fermeture d'usines. Cette étude montre l'importance théorique et pratique qu'il y a àétudier séparément les fermetures des grandes et des petites usines.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Fang & John S. Heywood, 2006. "Unionization and plant closure in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(4), pages 1173-1194, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:39:y:2006:i:4:p:1173-1194
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2006.00386.x
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    Cited by:

    1. David M. Frankel, 2010. "Rent Seeking and Economic Fragility," Levine's Bibliography 661465000000000159, UCLA Department of Economics.
    2. Dinlersoz, Emin & Greenwood, Jeremy, 2016. "The rise and fall of unions in the United States," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 129-146.
    3. Martyn Andrews & Lutz Bellmann & Thorsten Schank & Richard Upward, 2012. "Foreign-owned plants and job security," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(1), pages 89-117, April.
    4. Brändle, Tobias, 2024. "Unions and Collective Bargaining: The Influence on Wages, Employment and Firm Survival," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1457, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Dionne Pohler & Andrew Luchak, 2015. "Are Unions Good or Bad for Organizations? The Moderating Role of Management's Response," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 423-459, September.
    6. Fang, Tony & Ge, Ying, 2012. "Unions and firm innovation in China: Synergy or strife?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 170-180.
    7. Jeff Chan, 2019. "Labour market characteristics and surviving import shocks," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1288-1315, May.
    8. Emin M. Dinlersoz & Jeremy Greenwood, 2012. "The Rise and Fall of Unions in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 18079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Philipp Grunau & Lutz Bellmann, 2023. "Works council ‘disaffection’ and establishment survivability," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(1), pages 38-67, February.

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