Abstract: This article addresses the question of whether productivity differences are evident between conventional firms and worker cooperatives in the plywood industry. The principal goal of the research reported in this paper is to determine whether, for given levels of observed inputs, the worker-owned plywood mills as a group produce more or less output than do conventional firms. After accounting for observed differences in worker-hours, the quantities of raw materials and indicators of physical capital, the authors shall be asking whether there is a distinct difference in the amount of output produced by mills owned and managed by their workers.

　　Subjects: LABOR productivity; PRODUCER cooperatives; PLYWOOD industry; COOPERATIVE societies; MILLS & mill-work; INDUSTRIAL productivity; Hardwood Veneer and Plywood Manufacturing; Softwood Veneer and Plywood Manufacturing