PRELIMINARY. COMMENTS WELCOMED. DO NOT QUOTE OR REPRODUCE WITHOUT AUTHORS’ CONSENT. Joint Labor-Management Committees and Corporate Governance in Asia: Evidence From New Survey Data*

Using a unique cross-national survey of publicly traded firms in Indonesia, Korea and Thailand, we provide the first systematic cross-national evidence on the incidence, diffusion, nature, and scope of Joint Labor-Management Committees (JLMCs) and shed light on the potential role of employee stakeholders in corporate governance in Asia. We find insofar as publicly traded firms in these three countries are concerned, formal mechanisms to enhance employee participation and thus the role of employee stakeholders in corporate governance are often already in place. Furthermore, facilitating, complementary mechanisms, such as shopfloor participation and involvement and financial participation, are also in place. However, we also find evidence on the ineffectiveness of these formal mechanisms as practiced in Asian firms. Regarding what types of firms are more likely to use employee participation and involvement, we find that unionized are more likely to have JLMCs, pointing to potentially important complementarity between unions and employee participation and involvement. Finally, we find evidence that foreign firms are less likely to use JLMCs whereas firms run by founders as CEOs are more likely to use JLMCs. When any public policy initiatives to enhance the role of employees in corporate governance are considered, policy makers ought to be wary of the potentially differing reactions from diverse segments of the economy to such policy initiatives. (JEL: M54, J53, J41, O53).