IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/faulre/16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The reform of the German works constitution act: a critical assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Addison, John T.
  • Bellmann, Lutz
  • Schnabel, Claus
  • Wagner, Joachim

Abstract

Since 1920, the thrust of German law on workplace codetermination has changed on a number of occasions. We describe the latest swing of the legislative pendium - favoring works council formation and competence - and evaluate the case for it. We provide new information on the extent of works councils before reviewing the evidence on their economic effects, focusing on some new results from matched-plant data. If the former evidence points to a codetermination deficit, this shortfall does not appear to have negative consequences for workplace productivity, profitability, and employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "The reform of the German works constitution act: a critical assessment," Discussion Papers 16, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:faulre:16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/28299/1/361175493.PDF
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Addison, John T. & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2000. "Die mitbestimmungsfreie Zone aus ökonomischer Sicht," Discussion Papers 1, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    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. Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2004. "Works councils - sand or grease in the operation of German firms?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 159-161.
    4. Kölling, Arnd & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2001. "Bremst das Schwerbehindertengesetz die Arbeitsplatzdynamik in Kleinbetrieben?," Discussion Papers 4, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    5. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Thomas Zwick, 2006. "The Impact of Works Councils on Wages," GEMF Working Papers 2006-08, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    6. Jahn, Elke J. & Wagner, Thomas, 2000. "Substitution and crowding-out effects of active labour market policy," Discussion Papers 2, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    7. Barbara Sianesi, 2001. "Propensity score matching," United Kingdom Stata Users' Group Meetings 2001 12, Stata Users Group, revised 23 Aug 2001.
    8. repec:bla:kyklos:v:38:y:1985:i:4:p:537-54 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:bla:econom:v:54:y:1987:i:216:p:493-504 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:bla:kyklos:v:49:y:1996:i:4:p:555-82 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097, Elsevier.
    12. Felix R. Fitzroy & Kornelius Kraft*, 1985. "Unionization, Wages and Efficiency," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 537-554, November.
    13. Michael Lechner, 2002. "Some practical issues in the evaluation of heterogeneous labour market programmes by matching methods," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 165(1), pages 59-82, February.
    14. Edward Renshaw, 1995. "Analysis," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 53-56, May.
    15. Wegener, Torsten, 2000. "Institutionelle Aspekte der Regionalisierung von Wirtschafts- und Strukturpolitik," Discussion Papers 3, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    16. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 1996. "German Works Councils, Profits, and Innovation," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 555-582, November.
    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. Addison, John T. & Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2003. "German works councils in the production process," Discussion Papers 21, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    2. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "The Long Awaited Reform of the German Works Constitution Act," IZA Discussion Papers 422, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Askildsen, Jan Erik & Jirjahn, Uwe & Smith, Stephen C., 2006. "Works councils and environmental investment: Theory and evidence from German panel data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 346-372, July.
    5. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Kölling, Arnd, 2002. "Unions, Works Councils and Plant Closings in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Ipsita Roy & Uwe Cantner & Wolfgang Gerstlberger, 2020. "Works councils, training activities and innovation: a study of German firms," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 20(3/4), pages 269-294.
    7. 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.
    8. Olaf Hübler, 2003. "Fördern oder behindern Betriebsräte die Unternehmensentwicklung?," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 4(4), pages 379-397, November.
    9. Haltiwanger, John & Jarmin, Ron & Schank, Thorsten, 2003. "Productivity, investment in ICT and market experimentation: micro evidence from Germany und the US," Discussion Papers 19, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    10. Jahn, Elke J. & Wagner, Thomas, 2001. "Labour's law?," Discussion Papers 6, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    11. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    12. Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2001. "Verbreitung und Bestimmungsgründe verschiedener Formen der Arbeitnehmerpartizipation in Industriebetrieben," Discussion Papers 5, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    13. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2013. "Collective Bargaining and Innovation in Germany: Cooperative Industrial Relations?," IZA Discussion Papers 7871, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2003. "Trade Union Membership in Eastern and Western Germany: Convergence or Divergence?," IZA Discussion Papers 707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Zwick, Thomas, 2007. "Apprenticeship training in Germany - investment or productivity driven?," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 193-204.
    16. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Thomas Zwick, 2006. "The Impact of Works Councils on Wages," GEMF Working Papers 2006-08, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    17. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Bermig, Andreas & Dilger, Alexander, 2013. "Corporate governance and employee power in the boardroom: An applied game theoretic analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 51-74.
    18. Steffen Mueller, 2012. "Works Councils and Establishment Productivity," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(4), pages 880-898, October.
    19. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Zwick, Thomas, 2006. "Works Councils and the Anatomy of Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 2474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Schultz Birgit, 2006. "Mikroökonometrische Evaluation der ökonomischen Wirkungen betrieblicher Mitbestimmung - Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des Matching-Ansatzes / Microeconometric Evaluation of Economic Effects of Workers Par," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 226(5), pages 519-536, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Works councils; codetermination; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

    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:faulre:16. 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/vierlde.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.