The Impact of Business Ownership Change on Employee Relations: Buy-Outs in the UK and the Netherlands

44 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2005

See all articles by Hans Bruining

Hans Bruining

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship; Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Mike Wright

Nottingham University Business School

Paul Boselie

Tilburg University - Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences; Utrecht University of Applied Sciences

Nicholas Bacon

Nottingham University Business School

Date Written: 26 2004 3,

Abstract

A buy-out is a fundamental change in the structure of ownership that may affect the way employee relations develop within an organisation. Little is known about the impact of buyouts upon employee relations. This paper aims to address this gap. We focus on two main questions. First, what are the effects of a buy-out on employee relations in an organisation? Second, does the national institutional context affect the impact of buy-outs on employee relations? The paper reports changes to employee relations in buy-outs in the contrasting institutional environments of the UK and the Netherlands. Overall, we find that buy-outs positively affect HR practices with increases in training, employee involvement, the number of employees and pay levels. The positive effects appear to be significantly stronger in a less institutionalised environment like the UK than the more institutionalised environment of the Netherlands. Buy-outs raised HRM practices in the UK to a level closer although still below that of Dutch buy-outs.

Keywords: buy-outs, employee relations, HRM, agency theory, institutional theory, comparative analysis

JEL Classification: M, M10, L2, L29

Suggested Citation

Bruining, Hans and Wright, Mike and Boselie, Paul and Bacon, Nicholas, The Impact of Business Ownership Change on Employee Relations: Buy-Outs in the UK and the Netherlands (26 2004 3,). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2004-021-ORG, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=797249

Hans Bruining (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship ( email )

RSM Erasmus University
Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Mike Wright

Nottingham University Business School ( email )

Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB
United Kingdom
+44 115 951 5257 (Phone)
+44 115 951 5204 (Fax)

Paul Boselie

Tilburg University - Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Utrecht University of Applied Sciences ( email )

Utrecht
Netherlands

Nicholas Bacon

Nottingham University Business School ( email )

Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB
United Kingdom

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