An event study analysis of the effects of collective bargaining legislation on strike outcomes

Abstract

I consider the effects of legislation for conciliation and cooling-off periods, which were introduced in the Canadian Industrial Disputes and Investigation Act of 1907, on strike duration and person-days lost to strikes. I estimate the effects of this legislation on strike duration and persons-days lost to strikes using bargaining pair level data from 1901 to 1915 with a differences-in-difference model as well as an event study methodology. Both of these methodologies exploit variation in legislative coverage because there were some industries that were not covered by the legislation, and so were untreated.