Co-determination, corporate strategies and corporate performance

Although corporate strategies are very important, there is little empirical research outside Anglo-Saxon countries on the relationship between these strategies and economic performance, and hardly any research related to co-determination. The project therefore focuses on the differences in performance (capital market valuation, operating results) between companies with different corporate strategies, and investigates how co-determination influences the choice and success of corporate strategies.

In four modules the project analyzes the relationship between co-determination, measured by the co-determination index (MB-ix), and the following variables:

• selection of the general competitive strategy
• intensity of mergers & acquisitions activities at home and abroad
• corporate governance structures and practices
• ownership structures and practices

The research focuses on the 160 companies that were listed in the major stock indices DAX, MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX between 2006 and 2017 and for which MB-ix data are available. In addition, the MB-ix data will be updated for subsequent years.

The project started in January 2019 and runs until July 2021. It is carried out in cooperation with the Chair of Internal Auditing at the University of Duisburg-Essen and is financially supported by the Institute for Codetermination and Corporate Governance (I.M.U.) of the Hans Böckler Foundation.

Publications from and further information on the project can be found here: www.mitbestimmung.de/mbix