IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolit/v36y2019i3d10.1007_s40888-018-00139-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Equilibrium unemployment as a worker insurance device: wage setting in worker owned enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Marina Albanese

    (University of Naples Federico II)

  • Cecilia Navarra

    (European Parliamentary Research Service)

  • Ermanno Tortia

    (University of Trento)

Abstract

Worker co-operatives have been shown as characterised by higher wage volatility while providing higher employment stability compared with investor-owned firms (IOFs). These stylised facts show co-operatives’ stronger tendency to preserve employment more than maximising members’ incomes or profits. Most empirical tests in different national contexts also provide evidence of lower wages in worker co-operatives than in IOFs. Such evidence is unexplained to date. To fill this explanatory gap, we resort to the Shapiro and Stiglitz (Am Econ Rev 74(3):433–444, 1984) model of unemployment as a worker discipline device. Given lower agency costs, more efficient monitoring and the absence of wage premiums compensating for the expected costs of contractual failures, we show that equilibrium wages in co-operatives can be lower than in IOFs, while employment, ceteris paribus, is always higher. We draw the following conclusions: (1) Equilibrium unemployment can be at least partly interpreted as a negative external effect of labour contract failures and bilateral opportunism. (2) Shapiro and Stiglitz’s (1984) result is a special case of a broader class of equilibria characterised by contractual imperfections in the agency relation. (3) Various ownership forms can have different impacts on equilibrium unemployment and wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Marina Albanese & Cecilia Navarra & Ermanno Tortia, 2019. "Equilibrium unemployment as a worker insurance device: wage setting in worker owned enterprises," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(3), pages 653-671, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:36:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s40888-018-00139-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-018-00139-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40888-018-00139-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40888-018-00139-z?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Franck Bailly & Karine Chapelle & Lionel Prouteau, 2017. "Wage differentials between conventional firms and non-worker cooperatives: Analysis of evidence from France," Post-Print hal-02444502, HAL.
    2. Björn Bartling & Ernst Fehr & Klaus M. Schmidt, 2012. "Use and abuse of authority: A behavioral foundation of the employment relation," ECON - Working Papers 098, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    3. Canice Prendergast, 1999. "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 7-63, March.
    4. Bartling, Björn & Fehr, Ernst & Schmidt, Klaus M., 2012. "Use and Abuse of Authority," Discussion Papers in Economics 14243, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    5. Bruno S. Frey, 1997. "Not Just for the Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1183.
    6. Putterman Louis, 1993. "Ownership and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 243-263, June.
    7. Meade, James E, 1972. "The Theory of Labour-Managed Firms and of Profit Sharing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 82(325), pages 402-428, Supplemen.
    8. Cecilia NAVARRA, 2016. "Employment Stabilization Inside Firms: An Empirical Investigation Of Worker Cooperatives," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(4), pages 563-585, December.
    9. Mukesh Eswaran & Ashok Kotwal, 1984. "The Moral Hazard of Budget-Breaking," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 578-581, Winter.
    10. Chang, Juin-jen & Lai, Ching-chong & Lin, Chung-cheng, 2003. "Profit sharing, worker effort, and double-sided moral hazard in an efficiency wage model," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 75-93, March.
    11. Jesús CLEMENTE & Millán DIAZ-FONCEA & Carmen MARCUELLO & Marcos SANSO-NAVARRO, 2012. "The Wage Gap Between Cooperative And Capitalist Firms: Evidence From Spain," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(3), pages 337-356, September.
    12. Faria, Joao Ricardo, 2000. "Supervision and effort in an intertemporal efficiency wage model: the role of the Solow condition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 93-98, April.
    13. Belloc, Filippo, 2017. "What deters labor-owned firm creation? Evidence from Italian manufacturing sectors," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 139-153.
    14. Dow,Gregory K., 2003. "Governing the Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521818537.
    15. Ben Craig & John Pencavel, 1995. "Participation and Productiviy: A Comparison of Worker Cooperatives and Conventional Firms in the Plywood Industry," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1995 Micr), pages 121-174.
    16. Bengt Holmstrom, 1982. "Moral Hazard in Teams," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 324-340, Autumn.
    17. Gabriel Burdín, 2016. "Equality Under Threat by the Talented: Evidence from Worker‐Managed Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(594), pages 1372-1403, August.
    18. Lorenzo Sacconi, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance," Econometica Working Papers wp38, Econometica.
    19. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    20. Alves, Guillermo & Burdín, Gabriel & Dean, Andrés, 2016. "Workplace democracy and job flows," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 258-271.
    21. Bonin, John P & Jones, Derek C & Putterman, Louis, 1993. "Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Producer Cooperatives: Will Ever the Twain Meet?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1290-1320, September.
    22. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    23. Estrin, Saul, 1991. "Some reflections on self-management, social choice, and reform in eastern europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 349-366, June.
    24. Albanese, Marina & Navarra, Cecilia & Tortia, Ermanno C., 2015. "Employer moral hazard and wage rigidity. The case of worker owned and investor owned firms," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 227-237.
    25. Saioa Arando & Fred Freundlich & Monica Gago & Derek C. Jones & Takao Kato, 2010. "Assessing Mondragon: Stability & Managed Change in the Face of Globalization," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1003, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    26. Pencavel, John & Craig, Ben, 1994. "The Empirical Performance of Orthodox Models of the Firm: Conventional Firms and Worker Cooperatives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(4), pages 718-744, August.
    27. Craig, Ben & Pencavel, John, 1992. "The Behavior of Worker Cooperatives: The Plywood Companies of the Pacific Northwest," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(5), pages 1083-1105, December.
    28. Flavio DELBONO & Carlo REGGIANI, 2013. "Cooperative Firms And The Crisis: Evidence From Some Italian Mixed Oligopolies," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(4), pages 383-397, December.
    29. John Pencavel & Luigi Pistaferri & Fabiano Schivardi, 2006. "Wages, Employment, and Capital in Capitalist and Worker-Owned Firms," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 23-44, October.
    30. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    31. Ermanno C. Tortia, 2018. "The Firm as a Common. Non-Divided Ownership, Patrimonial Stability and Longevity of Co-Operative Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, March.
    32. Ben-ner, Avner, 1988. "The life cycle of worker-owned firms in market economies : A theoretical analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 287-313, October.
    33. Burdín, Gabriel & Dean, Andrés, 2009. "New evidence on wages and employment in worker cooperatives compared with capitalist firms," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 517-533, December.
    34. Hajime Miyazaki & Hugh M. Neary, 1983. "The Illyrian Firm Revisited," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(1), pages 259-270, Spring.
    35. Ellerman, David P., 1986. "Horizon problems and property rights in labor-managed firms," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 62-78, March.
    36. Horvat, Branko, 1986. "The theory of the worker-managed firm revisited," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 9-25, March.
    37. Arnaud Chevalier, 2022. "Does employee ownership improve performance?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 311-311, May.
    38. Samuel Bowles, 1998. "Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 75-111, March.
    39. Bowles, Samuel & Gintis, Herbert, 1993. "A Political and Economic Case for the Democratic Enterprise," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 75-100, April.
    40. Bonin, John P., 1981. "The theory of the labor-managed firm from the membership's perspective with implications for marshallian industry supply," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 337-351, December.
    41. Bowles,Samuel & Gintis,Herbert & Gustafsson,Bo (ed.), 2008. "Markets and Democracy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521064118, September.
    42. Dow,Gregory K., 2019. "The Labor-Managed Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107589650.
    43. Franck Bailly & Karine Chapelle & Lionel Prouteau, 2017. "Wage differentials between conventional firms and non-worker cooperatives: Analysis of evidence from France," Post-Print hal-02428306, HAL.
    44. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 1998. "Mutual Monitoring in Teams: The Effects of Residual Claimancy and Reciprocity," Research in Economics 98-08-074e, Santa Fe Institute.
    45. Montias, J. Michael, 1986. "On the labor-managed firm in a competitive environment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 2-8, March.
    46. Norman Frohlich & John Godard & Joe A. Oppenheimer & Frederick A. Starke, 1998. "Employee versus conventionally-owned and controlled firms: an experimental analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4-5), pages 311-326.
    47. Nantz, Kathryn & Sparks, Roger, 1990. "The labor-managed firm under imperfect monitoring: Employment and work effort responses," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 33-50, March.
    48. M Guerrazzi, 2008. "A Dynamic Efficiency-Wage Model with Continuous Effort and Externalities," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 13(2), pages 37-58, September.
    49. Will Bartlett & John Cable & Saul Estrin & Derek C. Jones & Stephen C. Smith, 1992. "Labor-Managed Cooperatives and Private Firms in North Central Italy: An Empirical Comparison," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(1), pages 103-118, October.
    50. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 1993. "The Revenge of Homo Economicus: Contested Exchange and the Revival of Political Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 83-102, Winter.
    51. Macleod, W.B., 1984. "A theory of cooperative teams," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 1984041, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    52. Bruno Jossa, 2012. "Cooperative Firms as a New Mode of Production," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 399-416, July.
    53. Putterman, Louis, 1984. "On Some Recent Explanations of Why Capital Hires Labor," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(2), pages 171-187, April.
    54. Ermanno C. Tortia, 2003. "Property Rights, Distribution of Value Added, and Accumulation of Capital in Labour Managed Firms," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 251-286.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Donald A R George & Eddi Fontanari & Ermanno Celeste Tortia, 2019. "Finance, property rights and productivity in Italian cooperatives," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 293, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    2. Luigi BONATTI & Lorenza A. LORENZETTI, 2018. "Why Wages Tend To Be Lower In Worker‐Owned Firms Than In Investor‐Owned Firms," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(4), pages 563-580, December.
    3. Vladislav Valentinov & Constantine Iliopoulos, 2021. "Social capital in cooperatives: an evolutionary Luhmannian perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 1317-1331, September.
    4. Maria Bastida & Alberto Vaquero García & Luisa Helena Pinto & Ana Olveira Blanco, 2022. "Motivational drivers to choose worker cooperatives as an entrepreneurial alternative: evidence from Spain," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1609-1626, March.
    5. Tortia, Ermanno C., 2021. "Employment protection regimes and dismissal of members in worker cooperatives," MPRA Paper 109214, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tortia, Ermanno Celeste, 2019. "Employment protection regimes in worker co-operatives: dismissal of worker members and distributive fairness," MPRA Paper 94536, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Marina Albanese, 2020. "Social and Relational Variables in Worker Cooperatives: Implications for the Objective Function," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 9(1), pages 26-44.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marina Albanese & Cecilia Navarra & Ermanno Tortia, 2017. "Equilibrium unemployment as a worker insurance device: Worker insurance and wage setting in worker owned enterprises," DEM Working Papers 2017/09, Department of Economics and Management.
    2. Dow,Gregory K., 2019. "The Labor-Managed Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107589650.
    3. Tortia, Ermanno Celeste, 2019. "Employment protection regimes in worker co-operatives: dismissal of worker members and distributive fairness," MPRA Paper 94536, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Marina Albanese, 2020. "Social and Relational Variables in Worker Cooperatives: Implications for the Objective Function," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 9(1), pages 26-44.
    5. Tortia, Ermanno C., 2021. "Employment protection regimes and dismissal of members in worker cooperatives," MPRA Paper 109214, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Cecilia Navarra & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Employer Moral Hazard, Wage Rigidity, and Worker Cooperatives: A Theoretical Appraisal," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 707-726.
    7. Albanese, Marina & Navarra, Cecilia & Tortia, Ermanno C., 2015. "Employer moral hazard and wage rigidity. The case of worker owned and investor owned firms," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 227-237.
    8. Gregory K. DOW, 2018. "The Theory Of The Labor-Managed Firm: Past, Present, And Future," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 65-86, March.
    9. Donald A R George & Eddi Fontanari & Ermanno Tortia, 2019. "Finance, property rights and productivity in Italian cooperatives," DEM Working Papers 2019/20, Department of Economics and Management.
    10. Carlo Borzaga & Chiara Carini & Ermanno Celeste Tortia, 2022. "Co‐operative enterprise anti‐cyclicality and the economic crisis: A comparative analysis of employment dynamics in Italy," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(3), pages 551-577, September.
    11. Filippo Belloc, 2019. "Why Isn't Uber Worker-Managed? A Model of Digital Platform Cooperatives," CESifo Working Paper Series 7708, CESifo.
    12. Ermanno C., Tortia, 2018. "A comparative institutional approach to co-operative self-finance: locked assets, divisible and indivisible reserves," MPRA Paper 89121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Luigi BONATTI & Lorenza A. LORENZETTI, 2018. "Why Wages Tend To Be Lower In Worker‐Owned Firms Than In Investor‐Owned Firms," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(4), pages 563-580, December.
    14. Federica VIGANO & Andrea SALUSTRI, 2015. "Matching profit and Non-profit Needs: How NPOs and Cooperative Contribute to Growth in Time of Crisis. A Quantitative Approach," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(1), pages 157-178, March.
    15. Gregory Dow, 2001. "Allocating Control over Firms: Stock Markets versus Membership Markets," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 18(2), pages 201-218, March.
    16. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:65-86 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Fathi Fakhfakh & Virginie Pérotin & MÓnica Gago, 2012. "Productivity, Capital, and Labor in Labor-Managed and Conventional Firms: An Investigation on French Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(4), pages 847-879, October.
    18. albanese, marina & navarra, cecilia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2013. "Employer’s moral hazard and wage rigidity," MPRA Paper 46343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Navarra Cecilia & Tortia Ermanno, 2011. "Employer’s moral hazard and the emergence of worker cooperatives," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201103, University of Turin.
    20. Gabriel Burdín, 2016. "Equality Under Threat by the Talented: Evidence from Worker‐Managed Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(594), pages 1372-1403, August.
    21. Fabio Sabatini & Francesca Modena & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 621-641, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Efficiency wage; Contractual failure; Opportunism; Monitoring; Abuse of authority; Worker-owned enterprises;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

    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:spr:epolit:v:36:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s40888-018-00139-z. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.