While available evidence suggests that the events of September 11th negatively influenced the relative earnings of employees with Arab background in the US, it is not clear that they had similar effects in other countries. Our study for Germany provides evidence that the events also affected the...

Using linked employer-employee data from Germany, we examine the role of foreign owners in employees' perceptions of job insecurity. Our estimates show that there tends to be a positive link between foreign owners and perceived job insecurity. The link is specifically strong for foreign-owned...

Comparing domestic- and foreign-owned firms in Germany, this paper finds that foreign-owned firms are more likely to focus on short-term profit. This influence is particularly strong if the local managers of the German subsidiary are not sent from the foreign parent company. Moreover, the...

German works councils provide a highly developed mechanism for codetermination designed to increase trust and cooperation within firms. This study examines whether or not the functioning of works councils depends on the type of ownership. Comparing domestic- and foreign-owned firms in Germany,...

From a theoretical viewpoint the relationship between foreign ownership and unionization is ambiguous. On the one hand, foreign owners have better opportunities to undermine workers' unionization. On the other hand, workers of foreign-owned firms have an increased demand for the protection...

We estimate of the determinants of performance appraisal, profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes for a representative sample of German establishments. The results demonstrate that foreign owned establishments make more use of each of these HRM practices than domestically owned...

Recent research has shown that the unexplained gender wage gap is smaller in establishments where a works council is present. The finding raises the question of whether establishment-level codetermination reduces gender wage discrimination or whether it reduces a wage differential that reflects...

While education and labor force participation of women have been increased, there is still a substantial gender gap in labor market opportunities. This gives rise to the question of what factors lead employers to promote work-family balance and gender equality. We address this question by...

A model by Huebler and Jirjahn (2003) suggests that rent-seeking activities of works councils are more limited in establishments covered by collective bargaining. The model predicts that works councils should have a stronger productivity effect and a weaker wage effect in covered than in...

A growing number of econometric examinations show that works councils substantially shape the personnel policy of firms in Germany. Firms with works councils make greater use of various HRM practices. This gives rise to the question of whether employers view the shaping of personnel policy...