Suchergebnisse

AbstractWe investigate whether workplace voice through institutionalized forms of employee representation (ER) affects the design of firm hierarchies. We look at the role of ER within a knowledge-based view of hierarchies, where the firm's choice of hierarchical layers depends on the trade-off between communication and knowledge acquisition costs. Using a sample of more than 20,000 private-sector firms in 32 countries, we find that the presence of ER is positively associated with the number of organizational layers, though the relationship is tempered by firm size. ER positively correlates with job training, skill development and enhanced internal communication via staff meetings. The analysis of managers' perceptions suggests the higher frequency of meetings in firms with ER does not lead to more delays in the implementation of organizational changes. Taken together, our findings point to ER as facilitating the flow of information to top decision-makers and hence reducing communication costs. This may enable the firm to economize scarce cognitive resources without retarding the accumulation of new shop-floor capabilities. We contribute to recent literature on organizational design by suggesting ER institutions as possibly relaxing the trade-off between communication and knowledge acquisition costs within firms.

The interplay between labour institutions and firm‐level adoption of new technologies such as robotics and other advanced digital tools remains poorly understood. Using a cross‐sectional sample of more than 20,000 European establishments, we document a positive association between shop‐floor employee representation (ER) and utilization of emerging technologies. We explore mechanisms driving this correlation by exploiting rich information on the role played by ER in relation to well‐defined decision areas of management, such as work organization, dismissals, training and working time. In addition, we conduct a quantitative case study using a panel of Italian firms and exploiting size‐contingent policy rules governing the operation of ER bodies in the context of a local‐randomization regression discontinuity design. The analysis suggests a positive effect of ER on investments in advanced technologies around the firm size cut‐off, although results are sensitive to type of technology and specification choices. We also document positive effects on training and process innovation, and no evidence of changes in composition of employment. Our findings cast doubt on the idea that ER discourages technology adoption. Rather, ER seems to influence workplace practices that enhance the complementarity between labour and new advanced technologies.