Motivation: Representation of employees in corporate governance bodies is, on the one hand, an important element in the democratisation of labour relations, while on the other hand, it can bring notable positive benefits to businesses. It is standard practice in a decided majority of the old EU countries, but only to a limited extent does it function in the countries which joined the EU in 2004 and later. Aim: The author of the article has defined two important goals. The first one is to present solutions concerning employee representation in individual EU countries. The second goal is to present earlier attempts to harmonise the EU legislation on the matters of such representation and to indicate the possibility of such harmonisation under the current conditions. Results: What has been noted in the article is that as many as 10 EU countries have no legislation concerning employee representation in corporate bodies. Although such legislation exists in other countries, the implemented solutions are heavily diversified. It has also been evidenced that the past attempts aimed to harmonise this sphere have generally failed. Against such background, establishing what is commonly referred to as a European Company with employee representation in its corporate governance bodies should be considered as a success, but due to a very limited range of such companies, it is but a partial success.
Równowaga instytucjonalna to jedno z ważniejszych pojęć nowej ekonomii instytucjonalnej. W opinii autorów równowaga ta jawi się jako kategoria niezwykle złożona, wieloaspektowa i wielopoziomowa. Sprawia to, że trudno precyzyjne określić, na czym dokładnie polega i w jaki sposób należałoby ją osiągać. W opracowaniu określono równowagę instytucjonalną jako taką kombinację instytucji nieformalnych i formalnych, które tworzą optymalne warunki do rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego. Definicja ta pozwala jednoznacznie wskazać, czy mamy do czynienia z taką równowagą, czy też z jej brakiem. W opracowaniu wykorzystano powyższą definicję do analizy mechanizmu zmiany instytucjonalnej, jaka się dokonała w procesie transformacji krajów postkomunistycznych. Wykorzystano ją również do interpretacji i oceny przemian, jakie się dokonują w Chińskiej Republice Ludowej.Słowa kluczowe: nowa ekonomia instytucjonalna, równowaga instytucjonalna, zmiana instytucjonalna.Summary: Institutional equilibrium comes as a significant notion in modern institutional economics. The authors believe that institutional equilibrium is an extremely complex, multi-level and multi-aspect category. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely determine what it involves and how it is to be achieved. The article defines institutional equilibrium as a combination of non-formal and formal institutions which provide optimal conditions to social and economic development. Such a definition allows the authors to determine whether the state of institutional equilibrium has been achieved or not. The article applies the above-mentioned definition in order to provide an analysis of the mechanisms of an institutional change which took place during the transformation process of the post-communist countries. It is also applied for the interpretation and evaluation of transformations taking place in the People's Republic of China.
Motivation: Since the 1970s, there has been recorded a significant scope of the employee representation in corporate governance bodies, as the earlier German solutions have been popularized in many European countries. Since then, there has been a discussion about the impact of this representation on the activities of companies, their economic results, their value, etc. The research conducted on this subject does not provide a clear answer on this topic.Aim: The article aims to determine the impact of board level employee representation (BLER) on the activities of companies. The latest findings in this area, based on the results of empirical research shall be considered. New types of BLER impact on the value of companies in various phases of the business cycle and on preventing tax avoidance shall be presented. The objective of the article is also to provide the governments of particular countries with additional arguments in favour of introducing or expanding the institution of employee representation. In the longer term, these arguments should encourage the EU authorities to try to develop and adopt a directive on this subject, obliging member states to introduce or extend BLER.Results: The controversy over the influence of BLER on the company’s operations has not diminished. However, taking into account the entirety of such an impact (ideological, economic and social results), there has been an increasing number of arguments in favour of a positive assessment of such an impact. They are provided by the latest, extensive empirical research conducted on this subject, covering several dozen countries. They indicate that BLER has a positive effect on the stabilization of the company in times of economic downturn (recession), that it affects the adoption of a long-term development strategy by companies, etc. The research also shows that representation of the employees in boards prevents companies from tax avoidance. Its effectiveness correlates with the scope of such representation.
This study aims to define the impact of two largest crises of 1997–1998 and 2007–2008 on changes to the models of corporate governance. In order to achieve the assumed aim, a critical analysis of specialist literature and relevant legal regulations has been applied. The analysis is focused on changes in the main models of corporate governance, namely: in the Anglo-Saxon (monistic) model and in the German (dualistic) model. Generally, they can be defined as of evolutionary nature but some deeper changes have taken place under the influence exerted by the above-mentioned crises. The latter crisis has emphasized the important role of corporate governance in banks and other financial institutions. Changes in corporate governance are largely affected by international institutions or organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Commission. Their recommendations and guidelines have contributed to the dissemination of so-called good practice codes. The considerations presented below allow the author to state that in both analyzed models of corporate governance, changes occur in the same or similar direction lines (the phenomenon of convergence). It can be also observed that the first analyzed crisis has caused larger changes in the monistic model, whereas the second crisis has affected the dualistic model in a more significant way.
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