Worker Attitudes, Worker Behavior, and Productivity in the U.S. Automobile Industry, 1959–1976

This study tests both a standard model of the production process and an augmented model that incorporates a linkage from worker attitudes to total factor productivity and the total unit cost of production. The authors estimate these models with data on the U.S. automobile industry for the years 1959–76, including plant-level data on grievances, quits, and unauthorized strike activity that provide the basis for an index of the effects of worker attitudes. The augmented model, including that index, is significantly more successful than the standard model in explaining variations in productivity and costs. During the years studied, worker attitudes negatively influenced productivity growth and unit costs, resulting from the failure of both management and labor to create a satisfactory work environment.