Letting workers into the boardroom? Capitalists have nothing to fear | Torsten Bell
by Torsten Bell from Economics | The Guardian on (#4W8CA)
It might sound like a recipe for disaster, but research reveals it leads to better decisions all round
We should put workers on company boards. We should. We need to get the detail right, but having workers' representatives present when big decisions are taken is not only a good thing in its own right but would lead to better decisions. It would be a big change in the UK, but it's not outlandish on continental Europe.
If that doesn't persuade you, let's turn to what this column is all about - evidence. Do we know the impact of requiring that, for example, a third of board seats go to employees? Helpfully, in the 1990s, the Germans removed this requirement for some new firms, but kept it for similar existing ones, providing a great experiment that economists have exploited with research.
Continue reading...