Foreign Ownership and Occupational Safety: Evidence from France
The DEMS Economics Seminar series is proud to host
Alessia Lo Turco
(Università Politecnica delle Marche)
with B. Javorcik, D. Maggioni, G. Santoni
ABSTRACT
One in nine workers worldwide experiences a non-fatal occupational accident. In France alone, almost three-quarters of a million of workers missed multiple work days due to a work-related accident in 2003. As multinational firms pride themselves on superior management techniques and their ESG credentials, this study examines whether foreign ownership is associated with greater occupational safety. Using detailed plant-level data from France for 2003-2018, we show that foreign establishments have a lower work accident rate. Applying recent event study techniques to a matched sample, we find that foreign acquisitions boost workers' safety as reflected in a reduction in the work-related accident rates, in the share of injured workers and the resulting number of work days lost. These improvements are likely due to organisational changes taking place in the aftermath of foreign acquisition, such as an increase in the share of hours worked by supervisors and middle managers, increased number of organizational layers as well as a higher share of foreigners in the top management.
The seminar will be in presence, Seminar Room 2104, Building U7-2nd floor