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Participatory Democracy May Go a Long Way: Comparative Growth Performance of Employee Ownership Firms in New York and Washington States

Author

Listed:
  • Gorm Winther

    (Aalborg Universilty, Denmark)

  • Richard Marens

    (University of Washington, Seattle)

Abstract

This article presents results from two studies implemented in the USA from 1990 to 1993. A main finding of the studies was that participatory decision-making in employee ownership firms seems to be a key explanatory variable to relatively faster growth rates than in conventional firms. Other indicative findings on participatory employee ownership firms outperforming conventional participatory firms lead us to hypothesize whether employee ownership and participatory decision-making may have a synergistic performance effect. A longitudinal approach mainly suggests that employee ownership firms perform worse than conventional firms before the inception of an employee ownership programme, but better afterwards. The findings are discussed in relation to economic theories on profit sharing and on participatory and labour-managed firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Gorm Winther & Richard Marens, 1997. "Participatory Democracy May Go a Long Way: Comparative Growth Performance of Employee Ownership Firms in New York and Washington States," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 18(3), pages 393-422, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:18:y:1997:i:3:p:393-422
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X97183003
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Annalisa Croce & José Martí & Sonia Martín-López, 2021. "Are policy measures effective in encouraging the creation of competitive employee-owned firms?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 42(1), pages 5-26, February.
    2. John Logue & Jacquelyn S. Yates, 1999. "Worker Ownership American Style: Pluralism, Participation and Performance," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 20(2), pages 225-252, May.
    3. Morris Altman, 2002. "Economic Theory and the Challenge of Innovative Work Practices," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 23(2), pages 271-290, May.

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