The Productivity Effects of Worker Directors and Financial Participation by Employees in the Firm: The Case of British Retail Cooperatives

Type of Work

Article

Date

10-1987

Journal Title

Industrial and Labor Relations Review

Journal ISSN

0019-7939

Journal Volume

41

Journal Issue

1

First Page

79

Last Page

92

DOI

10.1177%2F001979398704100107

Abstract

In British retail cooperatives, workers have long had the opportunity to participate financially in their enterprises, through such mechanisms as employee ownership, and to serve on boards. Using data from a 1978 sample of fifty cooperatives, the author of this paper presents econometric estimates of the effects of these channels of participation on co-op productivity. He finds that the presence of worker directors modestly increases productivity, whereas, surprisingly, financial participation in the firm by employees reduces productivity. The net impact on productivity of both forms of participation is small but positive.

Notes

JELClassification: 8250, 8331

Hamilton Areas of Study

Economics

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