Co-determination and innovation

"This paper examines the effect of the German co-determination law of 1976 (MitbestG) on the innovative activity of German firms. Co-determination applies to firms with 2000 employees or more. Data from 1971-1976 and 1981-1990 on 148 firms are used to compare the number of patents granted to co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kraft, Kornelius, Stank, Jörg, Dewenter, Ralf
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Bonn 2009
IZA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19187928124919051009-Co-determination-and-innovatio.htm
Description
Summary:"This paper examines the effect of the German co-determination law of 1976 (MitbestG) on the innovative activity of German firms. Co-determination applies to firms with 2000 employees or more. Data from 1971-1976 and 1981-1990 on 148 firms are used to compare the number of patents granted to co-determined firms before and after the introduction of the law. Several control variables are applied and in particular, in order to avoid a possible bias from specific effects of firm size, we compare the co-determined firms with others before and after 1976. The results do not support the view that co-determination slows down technological progress and reduces innovativeness."
Physical Description:43 p.
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