Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/294850 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
New Working Paper Series No. 343
Publisher: 
University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, Chicago, IL
Abstract: 
Recent proposals for a more inclusive capitalism call for labor and minority representation in corporate governance. We examine the joint promise of labor and minority representation in the context of German works councils. The councils are a powerful form of labor representation that grants elected delegates of shop-floor workers codetermination rights (e.g., over work conditions). Since 2001, a quota ensures that elected delegates include delegates of the minority gender in the workforce. Using detailed survey and administrative data, we find that required minority representation helps the representation of the minority gender on works councils, elevates the effort of works councils, and boosts job satisfaction and well-being of workers, irrespective of their gender. At the establishment level, we find that required minority representation reduces worker turnover and increases investment and productivity. Our findings suggest that laws ensuring labor and minority representation in corporate governance can work (i.e., benefit workers without necessarily hurting employers). The seemingly beneficial impact of the laws suggests that frictions hamper the representation of minorities and cooperation among workers and employers.
Subjects: 
Corporate Governance
Labor Representation
Gender Quota
Job Satisfaction
JEL: 
J15
J16
J28
J53
J54
J63
J71
J81
J82
J83
K22
K31
M12
M14
M50
M54
P16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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