Who votes for right-to-work?

A median voter analysis of Missouri’s Proposition A

Authors

  • Colin Steitz West Virginia University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17811/ebl.11.2.2022.88-92

Keywords:

Median Voter, Right to work

Abstract

Right-to-work laws constitute a major constitutional decision that impacts the abilities of unions to operate within a state with additional impacts on the general labor market. In 2017, Missouri attempted to enact right-to-work legislation, but due to pushback from local unions, the decision was ultimately given to Missouri voters in the form of Proposition A. Voters chose to rescind the legislation and prevented the legislature from making Missouri a right-to-work state. I examined county-level voting on Proposition A using a median voter model and found evidence that occupational interest variables predicted support and opposition to Proposition A.

References

Chava, S., Danis, A. and Hsu, A., 2020. The economic impact of right-to-work laws: Evidence from collective bargaining agreements and corporate policies. Journal of Financial Economics, 137(2): 451-469.

Collins, B. 2014. Right to Work Laws: Legislative Background and Empirical Research. Congressional Research Service, January 6.

Crain, W. M., and Tollison, R. 1979. Constitutional change in an interest-group perspective. Journal of Legal Studies, 8(1): 165–175

DeSilver, D. 2015. Job categories where union membership has fallen off most” https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/27/union-membership/?amp=1, April, 27.

Erickson, K. 2018. 'Right to work vote moved to August primary election. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 17.

Hall, J. C., and Shultz, C. 2016. Determinants of voting behaviour on the Keystone XL Pipeline. Applied Economics Letters, 23(7): 498–500

Hancock, J. 2017. Gov. Eric Greitens signs Missouri right-to-work bill, but unions file referendum to overturn it. Kansas City Star, February, 06.

Hall, J. C., and Karadas, S. 2018. Tuition increases geaux away? Evidence from voting on Louisiana’s amendment 2. Applied Economics Letters, 25(13): 924–927.

Holmes, T. J. 1998. The effect of state policies on the location of manufacturing: Evidence from state borders. Journal of Political Economy, 106(4): 667-705.

Matti, J., and Zhou, Y. 2017. The political economy of Brexit: Explaining the vote. Applied Economics Letters, 24(16): 1131–1134.

Missouri Secretary of State 2020. Official Results. https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/s_default, March 24.

Moore, W. J. 1998. The determinants and effects of right-to-work laws: A review of the recent literature. Journal of Labor Research, 19(3): 445-469.

Moore, W. J. and Thomas R. W. 1974. Determinants of the passage of right-to-work laws: An alternative explanation. Journal of Law and Economics, 17(1): 197-211.

Neto, A., Hodges, C., and Pyun, H. 2016. Voting dynamics and the birth of state-owned casinos in Kansas. Economics Bulletin, 36(1): 329–336.

United States Census Bureau 2018. American Community Survey www.census.gov/acs/www/data/data-tables-and-tools/, Accessed March 24 2020

Downloads

Published

18-04-2022

How to Cite

Steitz, C. (2022). Who votes for right-to-work? A median voter analysis of Missouri’s Proposition A . Economics and Business Letters, 11(2), 88–92. https://doi.org/10.17811/ebl.11.2.2022.88-92

Issue

Section

Articles