IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/mpifgd/306355.html

Firm size and society: The link between firm size, job outcomes, and political attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Hadziabdic, Sinisa
  • Kohl, Sebastian

Abstract

Given the recent reconcentration of the economy in many private industries, the impact of working in firms of different sizes on occupational and political outcomes is of renewed interest. Using micro-level data for the US and Germany, two most dissimilar cases in terms of labor market and political institutions, we show that large firms provide substantially more material and welfare benefits to their workers, while small firms are characterized by the highest job satisfaction and more harmonious relational dynamics. Workers in medium-sized firms appear to be "betwixt and between," being worst off in many dimensions, thus contradicting utopias of medium-sized-firm capitalism. Within firms of similar size, we also document a significant polarization between employers' and their employees' job experiences and political views. Given the number of waking hours spent in the workplace, the firm, hitherto a neglected locus of social sorting and socialization through which the economy shapes society, should figure more prominently in economic sociology research.

Suggested Citation

  • Hadziabdic, Sinisa & Kohl, Sebastian, 2024. "Firm size and society: The link between firm size, job outcomes, and political attitudes," MPIfG Discussion Paper 24/9, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:306355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/306355/1/1907980059.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aysit Tansel & Şaziye Gazîoğlu, 2014. "Management-employee relations, firm size and job satisfaction," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 1260-1275, October.
    2. Lang, James R. & Johnson, Nancy B., 1994. "Job satisfaction and firm size: An interactionist perspective," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 405-423.
    3. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2007. "The establishment-size wage premium: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(5), pages 427-451, December.
    4. Samuel Bagg, 2023. "Whose Coordination? Which Democracy? On Antitrust as a Democratic Demand," Politics & Society, , vol. 51(3), pages 364-386, September.
    5. Benjamin Artz, 2008. "The Role of Firm Size and Performance Pay in Determining Employee Job Satisfaction Brief: Firm Size, Performance Pay, and Job Satisfaction," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(2), pages 315-343, June.
    6. Joshua McDonnell, 2020. "Municipality size, political efficacy and political participation: a systematic review," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 331-350, May.
    7. Kristina Nyström & Gulzat Elvung, 2014. "New firms and labor market entrants: Is there a wage penalty for employment in new firms?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 399-410, August.
    8. Eve Chiapello & Luc Boltanski, 1999. "Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme," Post-Print hal-00680085, HAL.
    9. Sandy Brian Hager & Joseph Baines, 2020. "The Tax Advantage of Big Business: How the Structure of Corporate Taxation Fuels Concentration and Inequality," Politics & Society, , vol. 48(2), pages 275-305, June.
    10. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2011. "Small vs. young firms across the world : contribution to employment, job creation, and growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5631, The World Bank.
    11. Fiorini, Luciana & Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F. & Parsons, Christopher, 2024. "Community Size and Electoral Preferences: Evidence From Post-Second World War Baden-Württemberg," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 573-594, July.
    12. Sinisa Hadziabdic & Lorenzo Frangi, 2022. "Rationalizing the irrational: Making sense of (in)consistency among union members and non-members," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 147-174, June.
    13. Petrik Runst & Jörg Thomä & Katarzyna Haverkamp & Till Proeger, 2021. "Kleinbetriebliche Wirtschaftsstruktur — ein regionaler Resilienzfaktor in der Corona-Krise? [Small Business Economic Structure — A Regional Resilience Factor in the Corona Crisis?]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 101(1), pages 40-45, January.
    14. J. Adam Cobb & Ken-Hou Lin, 2017. "Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 429-446, June.
    15. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2010. "Unemployment and Small Cap Returns: The Nexus," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 333-337, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ehlers, Annika & Rumble, Ryan & Binz Astrachan, Claudia & Baù, Massimo, 2024. "Fulfillment or status: Job seekers’ reward expectations towards family and non-family employers," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4).
    2. Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Ficapal-Cusí, Pilar & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2017. "Did small and medium enterprises maintain better jobs during the early years of the recession? Job quality multidimensional evidence from Spain," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 396-413.
    3. David Vallat, 2015. "Une alternative au dualisme État-Marché : l’économie collaborative, questions pratiques et épistémologiques," Working Papers halshs-01249308, HAL.
    4. Bernard Billaudot, 2009. "L'ambivalence de la RSE. L'illusion de la coordination par le contrat," Post-Print halshs-00515194, HAL.
    5. Marc Auboin & Alisa DiCaprio, 2017. "Why Do Trade Finance Gaps Persist: Does it Matter for Trade and Development?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6425, CESifo.
    6. -, 2017. "La Encuesta Nacional de Dinámica de Empleo e Innovación (ENDEI) como herramienta de análisis: la innovación y el empleo en la industria manufacturera argentina," Documentos de Proyectos 42490, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    7. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen & Mélanie Volral, 2022. "Productivity and wage effects of firm‐level upstreamness: Evidence from Belgian linked panel data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(7), pages 2222-2250, July.
    8. Daniel Fackler & Lisa Hölscher & Claus Schnabel & Antje Weyh, 2022. "Does working at a start-up pay off?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2211-2233, April.
    9. Delis, Manthos D. & Galariotis, Emilios & Iosifidi, Maria & Ongena, Steven, 2025. "Corporate taxes and entrepreneurs' income: A credit channel," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Rachid Bagaoui, 2021. "Le management et la mobilisation des travailleurs : de l’illusio aux désillusions," Post-Print hal-03680299, HAL.
    11. J. Adam Cobb, 2019. "Managing the Conflicting Interests of Workers and Shareholders: Evidence from Pension-Assumption Manipulations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(3), pages 523-551, May.
    12. Robert Plasman & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2007. "Wage differentials in Belgium: the role of worker and employer characteristics," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 11-40.
    13. Pankaj C. Patel & Cornelius A. Rietveld, 2023. "Right of association and new business entry: country-level evidence from the market sector," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1161-1177, October.
    14. Cassini, Lorenzo & Robert, Verónica, 2017. "Oportunidad versus complejidad en los procesos de aprendizaje: criterios para clasificación de sectores según los atributos de los regímenes sectoriales de innovación," Documentos de Proyectos 44135, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Yoann Verger, 2015. "Sraffa and ecological economics: review of the literature," Working Papers hal-01182894, HAL.
    16. Robert Boyer, 2007. "Growth strategies and poverty reduction: the institutional complementarity hypothesis," Working Papers halshs-00587703, HAL.
    17. Gennaro Punzo & Rosalia Castellano & Mirko Buonocore, 2018. "Job Satisfaction in the “Big Four” of Europe: Reasoning Between Feeling and Uncertainty Through CUB Models," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 205-236, August.
    18. Pierre Pech & Cédissia About & Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste & Phlippe Jacob & Laurent Simon, 2017. "Analyse des processus de renaturation en tissu urbain dense en relation avec des infrastructures linéaires de transport urbaines et leurs emprises : le cas de la Métropole du Grand Paris," Working Papers halshs-01802392, HAL.
    19. Fabien Jakob, 2022. "Collective action towards a greener order of worth: protecting a common cultural and natural heritage," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 32(1), pages 625-642, June.
    20. Thomas Amossé & Gaëtan Flocco & Josette Lefèvre & Jean-Marie Pernot & Héloïse Petit & Frédéric Rey & Michèle Tallard & Carole Tuchszirer & Catherine Vincent, 2012. "Les organisations patronales. Continuités et mutations des formes de représentation du patronat," Working Papers hal-00684075, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:mpifgd:306355. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mpigfde.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.