How Equal Exchange Aligns Our Capital with Our Mission
In the wake of this cooperative’s recently concluded $4M stock offering, Equal Exchange created a single document that explains all of our unorthodox capital model…
Re-booting Capitalism: The Action Agenda for Business
Capitalism is living in interesting times. Politicians, academics and activists around the world are debating the merits of the capitalist system, and how and if it could be improved…
From Colleagues to Owners: Transferring Ownership To Employees
Based on ten case studies, the report explains what motivated a highly diverse mix of businesses to consider employee ownership as a succession or start up route.
When Workers Share in Profits: Effort and Responses to Shirking
This paper summarizes new evidence from the “Shared Capitalism” Project on the extent to which workers’ earnings depend on the performance of their firm or work group in the US and advanced European countries and on the impact of sharing arrangements on economic behavior.
Binary Economics: The Economic Theory that Gave Rise to ESOPs
ESOPs are part of a broader approach to expanded capital ownership, broader prosperity, and economic justice known as binary economics. Binary economics was first advanced by Louis Kelso, who is also widely known as the inventor of the ESOP.
Productivity in Cooperatives and Worker-owned Enterprises: Ownership and Participation Make a Difference!
The survival rate of worker cooperatives and employee-owned firms in market economics appears to equal or surpass that of conventional firms. But they typically return a different combination of economic benefits to their member-owners than do conventional firms…
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs): Objectives, Design Options and International Experience
Employee share schemes are becoming more prevalent worldwide. Originally designed as an ownership-broadening technique of finance, the term ‘ESOP’ is now used to describe a wide variety of employee participation strategies covering a diverse array of applications. ESOPs are best known for their adaptability and flexibility across a broad range of economic, political, and cultural circumstances.