arbiter
JournalsAccount

Union wage effects in Sweden: Evidence from the interwar period

William Skoglund

Explorations in Economic History2025https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101655article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.44

Abstract

In this paper, I use a new plant-level dataset to investigate the relationship between wages and the regional strength of unions. Using a shift-share or ’Bartik’ instrumental variables approach, I disentangle the causal effect of union strength on wage levels. I find statistically significant and economically substantial, heterogeneous union wage effects for men with the bottom of the distribution of plants being impacted by union density and the top two-thirds being unaffected. I find a statistically weaker negative effect on wages for women and argue that unions, in general, were uninterested in the issues of women. The paper contributes to the literature by providing the only evidence of a union wage effect in Sweden and, the earliest identified union wage effect anywhere—highlighting the importance of unions in shaping labor market outcomes in the early 20th century and showing that union wage effects are products of their historical and institutional context.

3 citations

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101655

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{william2025,
  title        = {{Union wage effects in Sweden: Evidence from the interwar period}},
  author       = {William Skoglund},
  journal      = {Explorations in Economic History},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101655},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Union wage effects in Sweden: Evidence from the interwar period

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.44

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.32 × 0.4 = 0.13
M · momentum0.57 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.