Title
Productivity and Safety in Worker Cooperatives and Conventional Firms
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1984
Publication Title
International Journal of Health Services
Department
Sociology & Anthropology
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between productivity and workers' safety in firms characterized by very different types of relations in production. Arguments are developed to explain why worker cooperatives are expected to have higher productivity and lower accident rates than conventional capitalist firms. Workers who own and control their firms are expected to have a greater incentive to be efficient and a greater ability to safeguard their health than workers employed under hierarchical and alienating conditions. The hypotheses are tested by comparing carefully matched conventional and cooperative plywood companies. Preliminary results suggest that while cooperatives may be more productive they are not safer, indicating the limits of the isolated cooperative form in capitalist market economies.
Volume
14
Issue
3
pp.
413-432
ISSN
0020-7314
WorldCat Link
Citation
Grunberg, Leon, Jerry Everard, and Mary O'Toole. "Productivity and Safety in Worker Cooperatives and Conventional Firms." International Journal of Health Services. 14.3 (1984): 413-432. Print.