IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v54y2001i4p737-775.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do “High-Performance†Work Practices Improve Establishment-Level Outcomes?

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Cappelli
  • David Neumark

Abstract

Studies of how different work practices affect organizational performance have suffered from methodological problems. Especially intractable has been the difficulty of establishing whether observed links are causal or merely reflect pre-existing differences among firms. This analysis uses a national probability sample of establishments, measures of work practices and performance that are comparable across organizations, and, most important, a unique longitudinal design incorporating data from a period prior to the advent of high-performance work practices. The conclusion most strongly supported by the evidence is that work practices transferring power to employees, often described as “high-performance†practices, raise labor costs per employee, suggesting that they may raise employee compensation. Higher compensation is a cost to employers, although some statistically weak evidence points to these practices raising productivity. The authors find little effect of high-performance work practices on overall labor efficiency, which they measure as the output per dollar spent on labor.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Cappelli & David Neumark, 2001. "Do “High-Performance†Work Practices Improve Establishment-Level Outcomes?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(4), pages 737-775, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:54:y:2001:i:4:p:737-775
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390105400401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979390105400401
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979390105400401?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black & Lisa M. Lynch, 2004. "What's driving the new economy?: the benefits of workplace innovation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 97-116, February.
    2. Richard B. Freeman & Edward P. Lazear, 1995. "An Economic Analysis of Works Councils," NBER Chapters, in: Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations, pages 27-52, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Michael J. Handel & Maury Gittleman, 1999. "Is There a Wage Payoff to Innovative Work Practices?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_288, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Sandra E. Black & Lisa M. Lynch, 2001. "How To Compete: The Impact Of Workplace Practices And Information Technology On Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 434-445, August.
    5. Easton, George S & Jarrell, Sherry L, 1998. "The Effects of Total Quality Management on Corporate Performance: An Empirical Investigation," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 253-307, April.
    6. Joel Rogers & Wolfgang Streeck, 1995. "Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number roge95-1.
    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. John T. Addison, 2005. "The Determinants Of Firm Performance: Unions, Works Councils, And Employee Involvement/High‐Performance Work Practices," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 406-450, July.
    2. Beckmann, Michael & Kräkel, Matthias, 2012. "Internal rent seeking, works councils, and optimal establishment size," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 711-726.
    3. Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer & Jörg Heining, 2021. "Labor in the Boardroom," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 669-725.
    4. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2004. "The Course of Research into the Economic Consequences of German Works Councils," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(2), pages 255-281, June.
    5. John T. Addison, 2016. "Collective bargaining systems and macroeconomic and microeconomic flexibility: the quest for appropriate institutional forms in advanced economies," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-53, December.
    6. Uwe Jirjahn & Steffen Mueller, 2014. "Non-union worker representation, foreign owners, and the performance of establishments," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 140-163, January.
    7. Laroche, Patrice, 2020. "Unions, Collective Bargaining and Firm Performance," GLO Discussion Paper Series 728, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino, 2020. "Management Practices, Worker Commitment, and Workplace Representation," IZA Discussion Papers 13285, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Gilbert Cette & Nicolas Dromel & Rémy Lecat, 2013. "Labour Relations Quality and Productivity: An Empirical Analysis on French Firms," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 4(2).
    10. repec:lan:wpaper:3619 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bauer, Thomas K. & Bender, Stefan, 2001. "Flexible Work Systems and the Structure of Wages: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 353, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. John T. Addison & Clive R. Belfield, 2004. "Union Voice," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(4), pages 563-596, October.
    13. Lynch, Lisa M., 2007. "The Adoption and Diffusion of Organizational Innovation: Evidence for the U.S. Economy," IZA Discussion Papers 2819, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Bloom, Nicholas & Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Human Resource Management and Productivity," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 19, pages 1697-1767, Elsevier.
    15. Surendra Gera & Wulong Gu, 2004. "The Effect of Organizational Innovation and Information and Communications Technology on Firm Performance," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 9, pages 37-51, Fall.
    16. repec:lan:wpaper:4012 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Steffen Mueller, 2009. "The Productivity Effect of Non-Union Representation," Working Papers 074, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    18. A I Petrescu & R Simmons & S Bradley, 2004. "The impacts of human resource management practices and pay inequality on workers' job satisfaction," Working Papers 542602, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    19. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes, 2009. "The "suite" smell of success: complementary personnel practices and firm performance," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2009/13, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    20. Zwick, Thomas, 2003. "Works Councils and the Productivity Impact of Direct Employee Participation," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-47, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    21. Steffen Mueller, 2009. "Are the firm owners really worse off with a works council?," Working Papers 081, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    22. repec:lan:wpaper:3621 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2007. "HR Practices and Firm Performance: What Matters and Who Does It?," Occasional Papers 07/2, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.

    More about this item

    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:sae:ilrrev:v:54:y:2001:i:4:p:737-775. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    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.