Abstract
Research on employer provided health insurance has shown that worker characteristics, wages and unionization influence the
prevalence of health insurance. Using the SIPP, this research confirms that these factors are also important in the construction
industry. However, in this volatile industry populated by small firms, the institution of collectively bargained multiemployer
health trust funds provides an additional impetus for the delivery of health insurance by exploiting cross-firm economies
of scale in the purchase of health insurance services and reducing the barriers to health insurance created by firm-labor
turnover through the creation of cross-employer portable health benefits that do not require multiple probation periods and
tolerate spells of unemployment. Additionally, while there is a countercyclical pattern of health coverage in the nonunion
sector associated with the shedding of marginal workers and contractors in the downturn, this countercyclical pattern is not
present in unionized construction. The greater insurance coverage of marginal unionized workers facilitated by multiemployer
trust-fund efficiencies means that the shedding of marginal workers in the downturn does not disproportionately shed workers
who are not covered by insurance.
prevalence of health insurance. Using the SIPP, this research confirms that these factors are also important in the construction
industry. However, in this volatile industry populated by small firms, the institution of collectively bargained multiemployer
health trust funds provides an additional impetus for the delivery of health insurance by exploiting cross-firm economies
of scale in the purchase of health insurance services and reducing the barriers to health insurance created by firm-labor
turnover through the creation of cross-employer portable health benefits that do not require multiple probation periods and
tolerate spells of unemployment. Additionally, while there is a countercyclical pattern of health coverage in the nonunion
sector associated with the shedding of marginal workers and contractors in the downturn, this countercyclical pattern is not
present in unionized construction. The greater insurance coverage of marginal unionized workers facilitated by multiemployer
trust-fund efficiencies means that the shedding of marginal workers in the downturn does not disproportionately shed workers
who are not covered by insurance.
- Content Type Journal Article
- DOI 10.1007/s12122-010-9095-0
- Authors
- Jaewhan Kim, University of Utah Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine 375 Chipeta Way, Suite A Salt Lake City UT 84108 USA
- Peter Philips, University of Utah Department of Economics 1645 Campus Center Dr. Room 308, Business Classroom Building #2 Salt Lake City UT 84112-9300 USA
- Journal Journal of Labor Research
- Online ISSN 1936-4768
- Print ISSN 0195-3613