Co-determination and Innovation

Kornelius Kraft, Jörg Stank and Ralf Dewenter
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Jörg Stank: HOCHTIEF AG

No 4487, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: innovation; co-determination; patents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J5 L2 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2009-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-tid
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2011, 35 (1), 145 - 172

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Journal Article: Co-determination and innovation (2011)
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