10.2190/WB2M-P2AA-X5YF-8YD9 WB2MP2AAX5YF8YD9 0 PUBLIC SECTOR-PRIVATE SECTOR DIFFERENCES IN REASONS UNDERLYING EXPRESSED UNION PREFERENCES 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=WB2MP2AAX5YF8YD9 1 DUANE E. LEIGH AND STEPHEN M. HILLS Recent waves of the young men and young women samples of the National Longitudinal Surveys provide information not only on how respondents would vote in a hypothetical union representation election, but also on the primary reason for their vote. This article uses the primary reason information to examine whether differences exist between public sector and private sector workers in the reasons underlying expressed voting preferences. Our major finding is that the relatively large demand of public employee for union representation reflects a relatively strong preference for collective action. Our interpretation of this finding is that public employees recognize the economic payoff to collective behavior in the political arena.