Councils of contentment: works councils and income perceptions
Abstract
Abstract Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between workplace co-determination in the form of works councils and income satisfaction. Controlling for a wide range of individual, job-related, and firm-level characteristics in OLS and fixed effects specifications, we observe that employees working in establishments with a works council report significantly higher income satisfaction compared to their counterparts in non-co-determined firms. Rank in the income distribution, perceived fairness of the wage, and working conditions emerge as quantitatively relevant factors in explaining the positive correlation.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Labor Movements and Unions
Cooperative Studies and Economics
Social Policy and Reform Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Population Economics
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 3
- Publication date
- 18 June 2026
- Language
- EN