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Reassessing the Impact of High Performance Workplaces

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  • Zwick, Thomas
  • Wolf, Elke

Abstract

High performance workplace practices were extolled as an efficient means to increase firm productivity. The empirical evidence is disputed, however. To assess the productivity effects of a broad variety of measures, we simultaneously account for both unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity using establishment panel data for Germany. We show that increasing employee participation enhances firm productivity in Germany, whereas incentive systems do not foster productivity. Our results further indicate that firms with structural productivity problems tend to introduce organisational changes that increase employee participation whereas well performing firms are more likely to offer incentives. --

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research in its series ZEW Discussion Papers with number 02-07.

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Date of creation: 2002
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Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:890

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Keywords: high performance workplaces; microeconometric evaluation; firm productivity; panel regression;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  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).
  2. Sieben, Inge & Grip, Andries de, 2004. "Training and expectations on job mobility in the call centres sector," Open Access publications from Maastricht University urn:nbn:nl:ui:27-13264, Maastricht University.
  3. Lutz, Roman, 2005. "Produktivitätseffekte betrieblicher Zusatzleistungen (Productivity effects of employee benefits)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 38(1), pages 30-48.
  4. 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.
  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?," GEMF Working Papers 2005-13, GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra.
  6. Arvanitis, Spyros & Loukis, Euripidis N., 2009. "Information and communication technologies, human capital, workplace organization and labour productivity: A comparative study based on firm-level data for Greece and Switzerland," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 43-61, February.
  7. Grip,Andries,de & Sieben,Inge, 2004. "The Effects of Human Resource Management on Workers' Wages and Firm Productivity," Research Memoranda 001, Maastricht : ROA, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market.
  8. Hempell, Thomas, 2002. "What's Spurious, What's Real? Measuring the Productivity Impacts of ICT at the Firm-Level," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-42, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
  9. Wolf, Elke & Beblo, Miriam, 2004. "Does Work Time Flexibility Work? An Empirical Assessment of the Efficiency Effects for German Firms," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-47, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
  10. Kirchner, Stefan & Oppen, Maria & Bellmann, Lutz, 2008. "Zur gesellschaftlichen Einbettung von Organisationswandel : Einführungsdynamik dezentraler Organisationsstrukturen," IAB Discussion Paper 200837, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
  11. Andries de Grip & Inge Sieben, 2005. "The effects of human resource management on small firms' productivity and employees' wages," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 1047-1054.
  12. Addison, John T. & Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2003. "German works councils in the production process," Discussion Papers 21, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
  13. Spyros Arvanitis, 2005. "Computerization, workplace organization, skilled labour and firm productivity: Evidence for the Swiss business sector," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 225-249.
  14. Bellmann, Lutz & Caliendo, Marco & Hujer, Reinhard & Radic, Dubravko, 2002. "Beschäftigungswirkungen technisch-organisatorischen Wandels : eine mikroökonometrische Analyse mit dem Linked IAB-Panel (Technological and organisational change and its effects on employment : a mic," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 35(4), pages 506-522.

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