10.2190/7M2F-HRBH-354C-A99E 7M2FHRBH354CA99E 339 INSTITUTIONAL WAGE STANDARDS IN PUBLIC SECTOR INTEREST ARBITRATION 339 348 20060614 20060614 20060614 20060614 7M2FHRBH354CA99E.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=7M2FHRBH354CA99E 4 DAVID A. DILTS MASHAALAH RAHNAMA-MOGHADAM TADESSA MENGESTU Indiana-Purdue University-Fort Wayne Texas Tech University, Lubbock Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana For negotiations that are at impasse most public sector collective bargaining laws require interest arbitration. Typically, the only issue remaining at impasse in public sector negotiations is the economic package, and the most common economic issue is that of wages. Because the strike is proscribed in most jurisdictions, and the labor market is imperfect, a theory of second bets has emerged in settlement of these matters. Rather than relying on market forces, the parties must rely on interest arbitrators and their applications of the institutional wage standards to the record of evidence to determine what the appropriate wage shall be. This article reviews these institutional wage standards and some of the difficulties in providing evidence concerning these matters.