The Effects of Workers' Participation on Enterprise Performance: Empirical Evidence from French Cooperatives

Type of Work

Article

Date

6-1985

Journal Title

International Journal of Industrial Organization

Journal ISSN

0167-7187

Journal Volume

3

Journal Issue

2

First Page

197

Last Page

217

DOI

10.1016/0167-7187(85)90004-9

Abstract

The results of estimating production functions augmented by various measures of workers' participation on a large enterprise level data set of French cooperatives are reported. Value added is found to be an increasing function of participation in profits, in collective membership and in ownership, even when a wide assortment of enterprise specific and environmental factors are taken into account. This finding is very robust, surviving tests between alternative specifications of technology, for reverse causality, for simultaneous equation bias and for multicollinearity. The typical productivity effect from participation, however, is small, around 5% of output. The results suggest that Western policymakers should investigate ways to increase workers' participation in capital stakes and profit shares.

Notes

JEL Classification: 0510, 6110, 8330

Hamilton Areas of Study

Economics

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