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  5. Leaders in Social Movements: Evidence from Unions in Myanmar

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Leaders in Social Movements: Evidence from Unions in Myanmar

  • Laura Boudreau
  • Rocco Macchiavello
  • Virginia Minni
  • Mari Tanaka
American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Social movements are catalysts for crucial institutional changes. To succeed, they must coordinate members’ views (consensus building) and actions (mobilization). We study union leaders within Myanmar’s burgeoning labor movement. Union leaders are positively selected on both ability and personality traits that enable them to influence others, yet they earn lower wages. In group discussions about workers' views on an upcoming national minimum wage negotiation, randomly embedded leaders build consensus around the union’s preferred policy. In an experiment that mimics individual decision-making in a collective action set-up, leaders increase mobilization through coordination.

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