A Distributional Analysis of Union-Wage Effects in South Africa: Evidence from Panel Data

A Distributional Analysis of Union-Wage Effects in South Africa: Evidence from Panel Data

Author: 
Ntlhola, Mpho Anna
Place: 
Oxon
Publisher: 
Taylor & Francis Group
Date published: 
2019
Record type: 
Responsibility: 
Kwenda, Prudence, jt. author
Ntuli, Miracle, jt. author
Journal Title: 
Development Southern Africa
Source: 
Development Southern Africa Vol 36 No 3 2019 pp. 309-328
Abstract: 

This paper examines whether individual workers' time-invariant unobservable characteristics influence estimates of the South African union wage premium across the length of the conditional wage distribution. It employs the 2001-7 South African Labour Force survey and a fixed effects quantile regression estimator. Results show a relatively large (small) wage premium at the bottom (top) of the conditional wage distribution when workers' time-invariant unobserved characteristics are ignored. Accounting for this set of factors substantially reduces the wage premium at all points of the distribution. In fact, the wage premium becomes somewhat constant across the conditional wage distribution, suggesting that unions in South Africa have little wage compressionary effects.

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CITATION: Ntlhola, Mpho Anna. A Distributional Analysis of Union-Wage Effects in South Africa: Evidence from Panel Data . Oxon : Taylor & Francis Group , 2019. Development Southern Africa Vol 36 No 3 2019 pp. 309-328 - Available at: https://library.au.int/distributional-analysis-union-wage-effects-south-africa-evidence-panel-data