Unions and workplace safety investment in Chinese private enterprises

Abstract This paper examines the significant role of unions in workplace safety investment. Analyzing data from a national survey of Chinese private enterprises, we find that unionization has a positive effect on workplace safety investment. We test several mechanisms through which unionization may enhance workplace safety investment. Unionization increases investment in workplace safety by advocating for formal contracts between employees and firms. More importantly, unionization enhances workplace safety investment through the democratization of corporate governance structure. Furthermore, the employee representative assembly system, a fundamental mechanism for union participation in democratic management within Chinese firms, is also observed to augment safety investment.