IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejapp/v17y2025i3p271-309.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Voice at Work

Author

Listed:
  • Jarkko Harju
  • Simon Jäger
  • Benjamin Schoefer

Abstract

We estimate the effects of worker voice on productivity, job quality, and separations. We study the 1991 introduction of a right to worker representation on boards or advisory councils in Finnish firms with at least 150 employees, designed to facilitate workforce-management communication. Consistent with information-sharing theories, our difference-in-differences design reveals that worker voice raised labor productivity. In contrast to exit-voice theory, we find no effects on voluntary job separations. However, treated firms reduce involuntary separations (during our recessionary sample period). A 2008 introduction of shop-floor representation, another worker voice institution preexisting in our main firm sample, had more limited effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Jarkko Harju & Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer, 2025. "Voice at Work," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 271-309, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:271-309
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20220451
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20220451
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E203681V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/materials/23399
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/materials/23400
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/app.20220451?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:271-309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.