Works Councils and Workers' Party Preferences in Germany

Arbeitspapier

Research on the consequences of works councils has been dominated by economic aspects. Our study provides evidence that works councils have nonfinancial consequences for civic society that go beyond the narrow boundaries of the workplace. Using panel data from a large sample of male workers, the study shows that works councils have an influence on workers' party preferences. The presence of a works council is negatively associated with preferences for extreme right-wing parties and positively associated with preferences for the Social Democratic Party and The Left. These results holds in panel data estimations including a large set of controls and accounting for unobserved individual-specific factors. Our findings fit the notion that workplace democracy increases workers' generalized solidarity and their awareness of social and political issues.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 1228

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior ; Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects ; Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation; Collective Bargaining ; Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining: Public Policy
• Subject: Workplace democracy ; worker participation ; political spillover ; party identification

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Jirjahn, Uwe ; Le, Thi Xuan Thu
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/268349
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET