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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

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