Who Uses Project Labor Agreements

Bibliographic Data

ID6446906
AuthorsKevin Conner (0000-0002-1507-9773, University of Utah), Peter Philips (0000-0003-2716-2926, Professor of Economics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
Year2025
Volume30
Issue3
Pages365-386
Publication date2025-01-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Works Management & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1087-724X • E-ISSN: 1552-7549
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1087724x251315726
OpenAlexW4406644096
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

This is the first comprehensive study of the adoption of project labor agreements on public works. Using data for about 450,000 California public projects (2012–2023), we find that PLAs are adapted to larger projects, more likely to be combined with design-build procurement, more likely to be adopted in wealthier counties with larger economies, more likely to be adopted by larger procurement agencies, are adopted during procyclical upswings, and along with design-build, PLAs are more likely to be adopted in more Democratic-leaning counties. Except for very large projects, PLAs are not combined with leased-back arrangements, which are more likely to be adopted in Republican-leaning counties. The prevalence of PLAs, design-build, and leased-back arrangements rises with project size, while traditional low-bid contracts and job-orders are more likely on smaller jobs. However, PLAs are more commonly found in combination with traditional low-bid contracts and job-orders projects when those projects are unusually large

Business · Economics · Labor relations · Labour economics · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Labor Movements and Unions · Public Procurement and Policy

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