The implementation of democratic justice regimes in the Israeli taxi sector: Economic imperative or ethnic origin?

Ideology and economic imperative are important factors shaping distinct forms of democratic governance structures in work organizations. This study asks whether ethnicity is another factor. To answer this question we compare the implementation of democratic justice regimes in 45 Jewish and Arab taxi stations in Israel. We focus on three measures of workplace democracy: (1) the election of managers by drivers in taxi stations, (2) the separation of powers between the executive and the judicial branches and (3) the establishment of mechanisms for equal distribution of rewards among all the drivers. Our findings show that on an institutional level Jewish stations seem to be more democratic in their structure than Arab stations. Yet, on the shop floor level members of Arab private stations enjoy more workplace democracy than their Jewish counterparts in the form of a system that promotes egalitarian distribution of rewards.