Labour Involvement as a Participatory Mechanism in Developing Economies: Contrasting the European Model

Employee participation, well established in pluralist democracies, is a crucial factor in the process of democratisation in developing economies. This paper contributes to this issue in Nigeria by focusing on the contribution industrial relations makes and contrasting it with the European experience. Specifically, the study investigates the employee participation forms which have developed in Nigeria. The research methodology is an adapted case study approach of 7 companies with international affiliations in Nigeria, and recent qualitative data from a focused group interview, involving key stake holders in the industrial relations framework, expanding the research to the broader socio-economic context in Nigeria. Despite the constraints of the research methodology the conclusion points at a rich variety of employee participation structures, which in some instances compare with European employee models. Significantly, the research reveals a clear pattern of democratic employee participation structures at company level thus highlighting relevance and promoting organisational efficacy.