Institutional Investors and Workplace Safety

45 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2023

See all articles by Wonseok Choi

Wonseok Choi

Texas Woman's University

Chune Young Chung

Chung-Ang University - College of Business & Economics

Hyunjin Oh

The Catholic University of Korea

Abstract

We examine whether institutional investors play a role in improving workplace safety. By compiling establishment-level work-related injury data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, we document significantly lower injury and illness rates that are more pronounced in firms with higher institutional ownership. This finding is more evident when the firms are owned by more dedicated institutional investors, who are geographically proximate to their establishments with high union coverage levels. Regarding the channel through which institutional investors influence workplace safety, further analysis suggests that firms with higher institutional ownership tend to adopt an employee-friendly corporate culture and invest in organizational capital and workplace safety. Overall, this study provides novel and robust evidence of the monitoring role of institutional investors in explaining variations in workplace safety outcomes.

Keywords: Workplace safety, total case rate (TCR), injury and illness rate, geographic proximity, social factor

Suggested Citation

Choi, Wonseok and Chung, Chune Young and Oh, Hyunjin, Institutional Investors and Workplace Safety. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4510085 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4510085

Wonseok Choi (Contact Author)

Texas Woman's University ( email )

304 Administration Drive
Denton, TX 76204
United States

Chune Young Chung

Chung-Ang University - College of Business & Economics ( email )

84 Heuk-suk Ro
Seoul
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Hyunjin Oh

The Catholic University of Korea ( email )

Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

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