The

Michael Barry (), Alex Bryson, Rafael Gomez, Bruce E. Kaufman (), Guenther Lomas and Adrian Wilkinson ()
Additional contact information
Michael Barry: Griffith University
Bruce E. Kaufman: Georgia State University
Guenther Lomas: University of Toronto
Adrian Wilkinson: Griffith University

No 11860, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using new, rich data on a representative sample of British workers, we examine the relationship between joint consultation systems at the workplace and employee satisfaction, accounting for possible interactions with union and management-led high-commitment strategies. We focus on non-union employee representation at the workplace, in the form of joint consultative committees (JCCs), and the potential moderating effects of union representation and high-involvement human resource (HIHR) practices. Our findings suggest a re-evaluation of the role that JCCs play in the subjective well-being of workers even after controlling for unions and HIHR policies. There is no evidence in our estimates of negative interaction effects (i.e., that unions or HIHR negatively influence the functioning of JCCs with respect to employee satisfaction) or full mediation (i.e., that unions or HIHR are substitutes for JCCs when it comes to improving self-reported worker well-being). If anything, there is a significant and positive three-way moderating effect when JCCs are interacted with union representation and high-involvement management. This is the first time – to the authors' knowledge – that comprehensive measures of subjective employee well-being have been estimated with respect to the presence of a JCC at the workplace, whilst controlling for workplace institutions that are themselves designed to involve and communicate with workers.

Keywords: worker representation; unions; joint consultative committees; HRM; job satisfaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J53 J58 J83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58 pages
Date: 2018-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published - published in: Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership, 2019, 2 (1), 60-90

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp11860.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11860

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().