Worker participation and firm performance : evidence from Germany and Britain

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

British Journal of Industrial Relations

Publication Date

3-1-2000

Volume

38

Issue

1

First Page

7

Last Page

48

Abstract

The Freeman–Lazear works council/worker involvement model is assessed over two distinct industrial relations regimes. In non-union British establishments our measures of employee involvement are associated with improved economic performance, whereas for unionized plants negative results are detected. The suggestion is that local distributive bargaining can cause the wrong level of worker involvement to be chosen. Also consistent with the model is our finding that mandatory works councils do not impair, and may even improve, the performance of larger German establishments. Yet smaller plants with works councils under-perform, illustrating the problem of tailoring mandates to fit heterogeneous populations.

DOI

10.1111/1467-8543.00150

Print ISSN

00071080

E-ISSN

14678543

Publisher Statement

Copyright © Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2000

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Addison, J., Siebert, S., Wagner, J., & Wei, X. (2000). Worker participation and firm performance: Evidence from Germany and Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 38(1), 7-48. doi: 10.1111/1467-8543.00150

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