Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2023
Direct participation in Denmark has been facilitated by agreements between employers and unions as well as a prevailing consensus about the value of cooperative arrangements. A revised Cooperation Agreement was achieved between the central union and employer organisations in 1986. It seeks to improve efficiency as well as enhancing employees’ welfare and security. This agreement has had a positive influence on the spread of participation in Danish industry. The paper examines, in greater detail, the experience of the banking and metal industries. Although Danish employers have generally advocated greater decentralisation, the Danish industrial relations system has retained a centralised framework within which direct participation has occurred.