Workers’ Participation in Management and Firm Performance: Evidence from Large and Medium-Sized Chinese Industrial Enterprises

The relationship between workers ’ participation in management and firm performance is open to de-bate in economic theory. There has not yet been any empirical study on this subject regarding China. The author uses panel data of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises in China’s Henan province, from a survey conducted in field research (1995-1998), to study how participatory management affects firm performance. The author found that participatory management has large positive effects on state-owned enterprises ’ productivity. JEL classification: B52; C23; J53; P3