Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161060 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10437
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper provides evidence on the effect of employee representation on working time flexibility in private-sector European establishments. A 2002 European Union directive granted information, consultation and representation rights to employees on a range of key business, employment and work organization issues beyond a certain firm size. We exploit the quasi-experimental variation in employee representation introduced by the implementation of the Directive in four countries (Cyprus, Ireland, Poland and the UK) with no previous legislation on the subject. The empirical analysis is based on repeated cross-section establishment-level data from the last three rounds of the European Company Survey. Difference-in-difference estimates suggest that the Directive had a positive and significant effect on both employee representation and the utilisation of flexible working-time arrangements for eligible establishments. The greater use of flexible working-time schemes is driven by establishments in which no local wage-negotiations take place and those with a high proportion of female workers. Our results are consistent with the idea that employee representation provides an endogenous rule-enforcement mechanism in second-best scenarios in which incomplete contracting problems are pervasive and third-party arbitration is unfeasible. Quite paradoxically, the relaxation of shareholders' property rights and the limits imposed on managerial discretion as a result of the operation of employee representation seem necessary to achieve certain valuable forms of organizational flexibility in market economies.
Subjects: 
employment
flexible working time
employee representation
JEL: 
D23
J22
J50
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
885.58 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.