This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

German works councils in the production process

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Addison, John T.
Schank, Thorsten
Schnabel, Claus
Wagner, Joachim

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We estimate the effects of works councils on productivity, 1997-2000, using the IAB Establishment Panel, a nationally representative German data set. We recoup the works council effect by estimating translog production functions, stochastic frontier production functions, and a model in first differences. Once we focus on a core sample of establishments with 21 to 100 employees in which the powers of the works council are a datum, it emerges that the positive productivity differential found in recent studies is a chimera. By the same token, neither is the works council effect negative. This result is important in its own right given the sharply opposing findings of past empirical research and the partisan positions these have helped sustain. // Anhand des IAB-Betriebspanels, eines repräsentativen deutschen Firmendatensatzes, schätzen wir die Produktivitätswirkungen von Betriebsräten für den Zeitraum 1997-2000. Wir ermitteln den Betriebsratseffekt durch Schätzung von Translog-Produktionsfunktionen und Modellen in ersten Differenzen sowie durch stochastische Produktionsrandschätzungen. Wenn wir uns auf eine Kernstichprobe von Betrieben mit 21 bis 100 Beschäftigten konzentrieren, innerhalb derer die Rechte des Betriebsrats sich nicht ändern, erweist sich das in jüngeren Studien gefundene positive Produktivitätsdifferenzial als Chimäre. Allerdings fällt der Betriebsratseffekt auch nicht negativ aus. Diese Erkenntnis ist angesichts der extrem gegensätzlichen Ergebnisse früherer Studien und der darauf aufbauenden konträren Positionen besonders wichtig. --

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/28304/1/368047202.PDF
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics in its series Discussion Papers with number 21.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:zbw:faulre:21

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.arbeitsmarkt.wiso.uni-erlangen.de/english/mainindex.htm

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (ZBW - German National Library for Economics).

Related research
Keywords: Works council; production functions; panel data; Germany;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Richard B. Freeman & Edward P. Lazear, 1995. "An Economic Analysis of Works Councils," NBER Chapters, in: Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations, pages 27-52 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1978. "Trade Unions in the Production Process," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(3), pages 355-78, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Fitzroy, Felix R & Kraft, Kornelius, 1987. "Efficiency and Internal Organization: Works Councils in West German Firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 54(216), pages 493-504, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Freeman, Richard B, 1976. "Individual Mobility and Union Voice in the Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 361-68, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Addison, John T & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 1996. "German Works Councils, Profits, and Innovation," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(4), pages 555-82.
  7. Addison, John T & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2001. "Work Councils in Germany: Their Effects on Establishment Performance," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 659-94, October.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Addison, John T. & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2003. "The Course of Research into the Economic Consequences of German Works Councils," IZA Discussion Papers 878, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Joachim Wagner, 2005. "Exporte und Produktivität in mittelständischen Betrieben Befunde aus der niedersächsischen Industrie (1995 – 2004)," Working Paper Series in Economics 11, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jensen, Uwe & Rässler, Susanne, 2007. "The effects of collective bargaining on firm performance : new evidence based on stochastic production frontiers and multiply imputed German establishment data," IAB-Forschungsbericht 200703, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]. [Downloadable!]
  4. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Stephan Veen, 2008. "The Impact of Workforce Age Heterogeneity on Company Productivity," Working Papers 0078, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU), revised Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
  5. John T. Addison & Lutz Bellmann & Thorsten Schank & Paulino Teixeira, 2005. "The Demand for Labor: An Analysis Using Matched Employer-Employee Data from the German LIAB. Will the High Unskilled Worker Own-Wage Elasticity Please Stand Up?," IZA Discussion Papers 1780, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. John T. Addison, 2005. "The Determinants of Firm Performance: Unions, Works Councils, and Employee Involvement/High Performance Work Practices," GEMF Working Papers 2005-03, GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Jirjahn, Uwe, 2003. "Betriebsräte, Tarifverträge und betriebliches Lohnniveau (Works councils, wage agreements and the company wage level)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 36(4), pages 649-660. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? Authors can create their own profile with links to their works on the RePEc Author Service.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-30.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.