Regression results of employment growth and right-to-work
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Model 1 replicates the WVU study | Model 1 with state fixed effects | Model 1 with state fixed effects and corrected RTW states | Model 2 replicates the WVU study | Model 2 with state fixed effects | Model 2 with state fixed effects and corrected RTW states | Model 2 with state fixed effects and robust standard errors |
| Right-to-work | 0.458*** | 0.337 | 0.243 | 0.486*** | 0.510** | 0.129 | 0.510 |
| (0.124) | (0.256) | (0.372) | (0.105) | (0.247) | (0.357) | (0.421) | |
| Observations | 1008 | 1008 | 1008 | 1008 | 1008 | 1008 | 1008 |
| R-squared | 0.044 | 0.831 | 0.831 | 0.774 | 0.859 | 0.858 | 0.859 |
* indicates statistical significance at the 10% level
** indicates statistical significance at the 5% level
*** indicates statistical significance at the 1% level
Note: Standard errors appear in parentheses. "Corrected RTW states" refers to redefining both Texas and Utah as right-to-work states for the entire span of the study period. The base Model 1 (regression 1) includes one control variable not shown, logged employment. The base Model 2 (regression 4) adds additional control variables to Model 1 that are not shown and they include: year fixed effects, state economic indicators (state government spending, industry employment shares, unemployment rate, median income, poverty rate), demographics (education, age), population density, climate, and census divisions. When state fixed effects are added to Model 2, we remove controls for census divisions. Following Deskins et al. (2015), all models use a lead specification such that dependent variable is year t+3 and right-hand-side variables are for year t. Full regression results are available in Appendix Table 2.
Source: EPI analysis of unpublished data from Deskins, Bowen, and Christiadi (2015)