ARBITRATOR DECISIONS IN WISCONSIN TEACHER WAGE DISPUTES.

This study examines the role of wage comparability in the decisions of arbitrators in final offer wage disputes between Wisconsin teachers and school boards in 1977-86. The authors find that wage increases agreed to earlier in the bargaining round by comparable school districts (specifically, other districts within the same athletic conference) had a substantial impact on the decisions of the arbitrators. This result is not predicted by most theoretical studies of interest arbitration, but it is consistent with previous institutional research, the written awards of Wisconsin arbitrators, and the bargaining strategies of the parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]