THE ABILITY TO PAY CRITERION: SOME RECENT EVIDENCE

CHARLES T. WEBER

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DOI: 10.2190/3GTE-LX1T-JM8E-BXJ8

Abstract

The author examines the results of public sector bargaining by comparing the wage history of police officers and senior clerk typists for sixty-three cities in southeastern Michigan from 1965 (when collective bargaining emerged on a large scale) to 1978. The effect of ability-to-pay variables is investigated by means of multiple regression analysis. The data indicate that one classification of "public employee" is inappropriate. Public safety workers have been substantially more successful in bargaining than clerical workers, and that the ability-to-pay criterion seems much less important in determining the outcome of their negotiations.

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