Shared Capitalism at Work
Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-Based Stock Options
Shared Capitalism at Work
Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-Based Stock Options
The historical relationship between capital and labor has evolved in the past few decades. One particularly noteworthy development is the rise of shared capitalism, a system in which workers have become partial owners of their firms and thus, in effect, both employees and stockholders. Profit sharing arrangements and gain-sharing bonuses, which tie compensation directly to a firm’s performance, also reflect this new attitude toward labor.
Shared Capitalism at Work analyzes the effects of this trend on workers and firms. The contributors focus on four main areas: the fraction of firms that participate in shared capitalism programs in the United States and abroad, the factors that enable these firms to overcome classic free rider and risk problems, the effect of shared capitalism on firm performance, and the impact of shared capitalism on worker well-being. This volume provides essential studies for understanding the increasingly important role of shared capitalism in the modern workplace.
432 pages | 22 line drawings, 94 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2010
National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report
Economics and Business: Business--Industry and Labor
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Richard B. Freeman, Joseph R. Blasi, and Douglas L. Kruse
I. The Extent and Operation of Shared Capitalism
1. Shared Capitalism in the U.S. Economy: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Employee Views of Financial Participation in Enterprises
Douglas L. Kruse, Joseph R. Blasi, and Rhokeun Park
2. Worker Responses to Shirking under Shared Capitalism
Richard B. Freeman, Douglas L. Kruse, and Joseph R. Blasi
3. Risk and Lack of Diversification under Employee Ownership and Shared Capitalism
Joseph R. Blasi, Douglas L. Kruse, and Harry M. Markowitz
II. Firm Performance
4. Creating a Bigger Pie? The Effects of Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Stock Options on Workplace Performance
Joseph R. Blasi, Richard B. Freeman, Christopher Mackin, and Douglas L. Kruse
5. Complementarity of Shared Compensation and Decision-Making Systems: Evidence from the American Labor Market
Arindrajit Dube and Richard B. Freeman
6. How Does Shared Capitalism Affect Economic Performance in the UK?
Alex Bryson and Richard B. Freeman
7. Who Has a Better Idea? Innovation, Shared Capitalism, and Human Resources Policies
Erika E. Harden, Douglas L. Kruse, and Joseph R. Blasi
III. Worker Well-being
8. Do Workers Gain by Sharing? Employee Outcomes under Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options
Douglas L. Kruse, Richard B. Freeman, and Joseph R. Blasi
9. Does Employee Ignorance Undermine Shared Capitalism?
John W. Budd
10. Who Benefits from Shared Capitalism? The Social Stratification of Wealth and Power in Companies with Employee Ownership
Edward J. Carberry
11. Show Me the Money: Does Shared Capitalism Share the Wealth?
Robert Buchele, Douglas L. Kruse, Loren Rodgers, and Adria Scharf
Epilogue and Prologue
Joseph R. Blasi, Douglas L. Kruse and Richard B. Freeman
Appendix A: Variable Definitions and Descriptive Statistics
Appendix B: The Shared Capitalist Thermometer Index