Un análisis del desempeño comparado de empresas recuperadas, otras empresas gestionadas por sus trabajadores y empresas convencionales en Uruguay

In the recent economic crisis experienced by many developed countries in the last decade and during the past crisis at the beginning of the 21st century in Argentina and Uruguay we could observe the emergence of the phenomenon of the so-called recovered firms (RFs) or employee buyouts of failed capitalist firms (CFs). While it is obvious that one of the objectives sought by these workers is to keep their jobs, it is not clear how the subsequent performance of these firms is. Are the RFs more likely to fail than other worker managed firms (WMFs) or than the CFs? Do the RFs workers perceive a higher wage than their peers in other WMFs or in CF? This analysis is based on a linked employer-employees panel data set from the Uruguayan social security administrative records. The main findings are that the RFs survive longer than other WMFs or than CFs. However, the RFs workers receive a wage substantially lower than their peers with similar observable characteristics in other WMFs or in CFs. This wage differential is explained partially because of a drain process of the more qualified and younger workers who did not participated in the workers takeover.