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Creating a Bigger Pie? The Effects of Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Stock Options on Workplace Performance

In: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph R. Blasi
  • Richard B. Freeman
  • Christopher Mackin
  • Douglas L. Kruse

Abstract

This paper uses data from NBER surveys of over 40,000 employees in hundreds of facilities in 14 firms and from employees on the 2002 and 2006 General Social Surveys to explore how shared compensation affects turnover, absenteeism, loyalty, worker effort, and other outcomes affecting workplace performance. The empirical analysis shows that shared capitalism has beneficial effects on all outcomes save for absenteeism and that it has its strongest effects on turnover, loyalty, and worker effort when it is combined with: a) high-performance work policies (employee involvement, training, and job security), b) low levels of supervision, and c) fixed wages that are at or above market level. Most workers report that cash incentives, stock options, ESOP stock, and ESPP participation motivate them to work harder. The interaction of the effects of shared capitalism with other corporate policies suggests that the various shared capitalist and other policies may operate through a latent variable, "corporate culture".
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Suggested Citation

  • Joseph R. Blasi & Richard B. Freeman & Christopher Mackin & Douglas L. Kruse, 2010. "Creating a Bigger Pie? The Effects of Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Stock Options on Workplace Performance," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 139-165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:8089
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Prasad, Ajnesh, 2018. "When is economic inequality justified?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 855-862.
    2. Long, Richard J. & Fang, Tony, 2013. "Profit Sharing and Workplace Productivity: Does Teamwork Play a Role?," IZA Discussion Papers 7869, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Alex Bryson & Richard B. Freeman, 2014. "Employee Stock Purchase Plans - Gift or Incentive? Evidence from a Multinational Corporation," CEP Discussion Papers dp1307, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Kornelius Kraft & Julia Lang, 2013. "Profit Sharing and Training," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(6), pages 940-961, December.
    5. Noélie Delahaie & Richard Duhautois, 2019. "Profit‐Sharing and Wages: An Empirical Analysis Using French Data between 2000 and 2007," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 107-142, March.
    6. Peter Cappelli & Martin Conyon & David Almeda, 2020. "Social Exchange and the Effects of Employee Stock Options," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 124-152, January.
    7. Olfa Aissa, 2016. "A Meta-Analysis of the Financial Participation Impact on Firm Performance," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 186-186, July.
    8. MAHMOOD Athar, 2020. "Employee Stock Option Plans: A Meta-Analysis (Understanding Impact Of Esops Through Literature)," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 15(1), pages 100-114, April.
    9. Richard J. Long & Tony Fang, 2012. "Do Employees Profit from Profit Sharing? Evidence from Canadian Panel Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(4), pages 899-927, October.
    10. Andrews, Martyn & Bellmann, Lutz & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2010. "The impact of financial participation on workers' compensation (Der Einfluss von finanzieller Mitarbeiterbeteiligung auf die Entlohnung der Arbeitnehmer)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 43(1), pages 72-89.
    11. Andrews, Martyn & Bellmann, Lutz & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2010. "The impact of financial participation on workers' compensation (Der Einfluss von finanzieller Mitarbeiterbeteiligung auf die Entlohnung der Arbeitnehmer)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 43(1), pages 72-89.
    12. Andrews, Martyn & Bellmann, Lutz & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2010. "The impact of financial participation on workers' compensation (Der Einfluss von finanzieller Mitarbeiterbeteiligung auf die Entlohnung der Arbeitnehmer)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 43(1), pages 72-89.
    13. Kathrin Gunkelmann & Sven Stöwhase, 2019. "Mitarbeiterkapitalbeteiligungen: Verbreitung und Beteiligungsgrade [Employee Capital Participation: Trends and Recent Developments]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 99(5), pages 359-362, May.
    14. Belloc, Filippo, 2022. "Profit sharing and innovation across organizational layers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 598-623.
    15. Gilberto Tadeu Lima & Jaylson Jair da Silveira, 2018. "Macrodynamic Implications of Employee Profit Sharing as Effort Elicitation Device," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2018_02, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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