Variation in Productive Efficiency in French Workers’ Cooperatives

In this study, we explore the distribution of productive efficiency among workers’ cooperatives operating in each of four sectors of French manufacturing. We use stochastic frontier panel data techniques to estimate production relationships in each sector, and to decompose output variation into input variation, variation in the effects of two indicators of the degree of worker participation in management, variation in productive efficiency, and an unexplained residual. In all four sectors we find that conventionally measured capital and labor inputs make a
significant contribution to productivity. In only one sector do participation indicators contribute significantly. Variation in productive efficiency contributes significantly in all four sectors.