Sind betriebliche Bündnisse für Arbeit erfolgreich? / Are ln-plant Alliances for Job Security Successful?

This paper uses data from the WSI works council survey in 2003 where detailed information on agreements between employers and employees to secure jobs are available. Firm size and profit effects of company-level agreements are investigated. A major result is that the development of firm size is less favourable in companies with in-plant alliances than in other firms. Interestingly, this result is stronger within the group of successful firms. If we distinguish between several measures our estimation shows that training on-the-job and prolongation of working hours are positively correlated with the objective of job security while pay cuts, reduction of working hours and reorganisation of firms lead to further lay-offs. More ambiguous is the impact of working hours accounts. Our investigations demonstrate that the agreements are more successful if employers or the management suggest an in-plant alliance than works councils or unions. Usually, we observe only short run positive employment effects but in the medium term the effects are negative. Only in the long run the development turns around and in-plant alliances are really successful. Sometimes, renegotiations can help to improve the situation.