SummaryThis paper reports on the results of a study on the determinants of the introduction of a works council and its consequences. We consider the effects of expectations concerning the economic conditions of a firm on the probability of adopting a works council. This is done, on the one hand, by use of employees' expectations on employment security and, on the other hand, by including forecasts of the management concerning employment growth and business conditions. Secondly, the effects of the introduction of works councils on wages and overtime working are investigated. Works councils are introduced when employees are concerned about job security. After the introduction of a works council the concerns about job security are less pronounced.

No abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractWe analyse the impact of retraining for the unemployed on future labour market success, and estimate effects separately for different target occupations. We use German registry data and apply statistical matching methods. The results show that on average, after a period with strong lock-in effects, retraining increases the employment probability of women by more than 20 percentage points. Effects for male participants are somewhat weaker. Although we find differences in the effectiveness of retraining by target occupations, these differences cannot completely explain the observed gender differences. Healthcare occupations, which are the most important target occupations especially of female participants, are among those with the strongest effects. Despite differences between occupational fields, retraining in most of the considered occupations positively affects employment prospects of participants. Finally, sorting into different occupations seems to be present, as participants with different target professions also differ in their observable characteristics.JEL: J24, J68, C14

No abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Non-Technical SummaryWe investigate the effect of profit sharing on product and process innovation. The general aim of companies introducing profit sharing in their remuneration policy is to stimulate staff performance. As profit maximization becomes a win-win strategy to both the employees and the firm owners, their mutual interests become aligned. If the incentive system works in an efficient way and if employees behave rationally, they will increase their efforts, which should subsequently raise the company's performance.While many studies consider the effects of profit sharing on firm performance in general (productivity, profitability), not much is known about the effects on innovation. In this paper, we introduce measures of technological progress in an attempt to unravel how profit sharing may interact with firm performance through the realisation of both product and process innovations. We employ the IAB establishment panel, an extensive dataset on German establishments over the time periods 2005 to 2009. In order to eliminate possible selectivity effects, we apply static matching and conditional difference-in-differences methods.Based on the matching results, profit sharing companies outperform non-profit sharing companies on both process and product innovativeness. However, according to the results of the conditional difference-in-differences method only product innovation is enhanced by the introduction of profit sharing. Hence firms introducing profit sharing are already more innovative with respect to both product and process innovations before they launch the variable incentive method of profit sharing. But profit sharing additionally has a positive effect on product innovations. Das Wichtigste in Kürze AbstractWe investigate the effect of profit-sharing on product and process innovation. Profit-sharing is a credible commitment of the companies to let the employees participate in any efficiency gain. Resistance against technical progress becomes less plausible. Moreover, employees are stimulated to share their specific information advantage on possibilities to optimize the production process and products with the management. We take account of possible selectivity effects and using survey data on German companies with and without profitsharing in a conditional difference-in-differences framework, we test our hypothesis by comparing measures of innovativeness. Based on matching (selectivity on observable covariates) in a static comparison firms wit...