ABSTRACT
Several ordinal polytomous models are estimated for various sets of independent variables. Independently of the set of controls used in the ordinal model, the coefficient of the union membership dummy is always negative and significant. This means that being a union member makes workers more likely to be in higher underemployment categories rather than in lower ones vis-a-vis non-unionized workers. According to human capital theory, experience (age) and education decrease the chances of being underemployed. However, since the coefficient for age squared is positive, the advantage given by experience decreases in time, as human capital theory specifies. As neoclassical and human capital theory postulate, blacks and women are more vulnerable to underemployment than white men, as are nonunionized workers vis-a-vis the unionized ones. Worker underemployment decreases with age, education and union membership because worker power is higher in unionized settings, and workers have access to internal labor markets within unionized firms.
