This article presents the first nonparametric test whether German works councils go hand-in-hand with higher labour productivity or not. It distinguishes between establishments that are covered by collective bargaining or not. Results from a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for first-order stochastic...

This paper is a portrait of the series European Data Watch that is published in Schmollers Jahrbuch/Journal of Applied Social Science Studies since 2000. Contributions to this series describe data for persons or firms that can be used in empirical research in economics and the social sciences,...

Using a large panel data set it is investigated whether works councils act as a sand or grease in the operation of German firms. Stochastic production frontier analysis indicates that establishments with and without a works council do not exhibit significant differences in efficiency