Interview with Marshall Vance
In this short video, Dr. Marshall Vance describes his research on equity compensation and its effects. “Different kinds of employees respond differently to equity compensation.”
Interview with Daphne Berry
In this short video, Dr. Daphne Berry describes why she teaches her students about worker cooperatives and participatory ESOPs.
Presentation on Avner Ben-Ner’s Body of Work
Dr. Avner Ben-Ner was recognized for his entire body of work at the 2020 Workshop in Honor of Louis O. Kelso. See slides from the presentation here. Avner Ben-Ner is a Professor in the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a Senior Scholar … Read More
Interview with Janet Boguslaw
Dr. Janet Boguslaw describes her new research on building the wealth of low income populations which focuses in particular on women and people of color.
As National Van Lines’ ESOP CEO Maureen Beal Nears Retirement, She Sits for an Interview with Mary Josephs
For nearly a decade, I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Maureen Beal, the third-generation owner and chairman and CEO of National Van Lines, the national company whose brand is synonymous with “moving.” Maureen, who began as a teen switchboard operator at the company and then in 1993 took the helm after … Read More
Having a Stake: Evidence and Implications for Broad-based Employee Stock Ownership and Profit Sharing
At the center of the ongoing debate about the causes and cures of inequality in America today is the vast difference in wealth between owners and workers. As many have noted, that gap was not nearly as large in the middle of the twentieth century as it has become in the first two decades of the 21st century, where owners and other executives make many multiples of what workers make – largely through grants of stock in lieu of salary.
Worker-Owned Apps Are Trying to Fix the Gig Economy’s Exploitation
This article focuses on worker-owned apps, specifically Up & Go, and how they are the new best thing for labor economies. It walks through what worker-owned apps are, what obstacles there might be when making one, and how to build it with the workers at the forefront of designing.
All For One and One For All: A Mechanism Through Which Broad‐Based Employee Stock Ownership and Employee‐Perceived Involvement Practice Create a Productive Workforce
Drawing on social identity theory, this research frames a multimediational model that delineates how broad‐based employee stock ownership (BESO) and employee‐perceived involvement practice in tandem yield a productive workforce at the organization level. In our theoretical model, we propose that social cohesion and voluntary turnover are collective attitudinal and behavioral outcomes resulting from the shared … Read More
Center for Family Life – Up & Go
CFL’s app, Up & Go, is the first booking app in the United States owned by domestic workers, empowering them to increase wages, build assets, and compete in the digital gig economy. This video introduces the app as well as its owners/employees.
A Guide to DOL ESOP Investigations
The first comprehensive analysis of Department of Labor ESOP investigations ever conducted, plus practical advice from experts.
Investing in Employee Ownership: Financing Conversions Through a Private Equity Fund Model
As the wealth gap continues to grow, especially along racial lines, stakeholders – movement leaders, workers, and aligned investors – are considering a broader array of options for creating asset-building opportunities for marginalized communities and giving them meaningful voice. Employee ownership is a way for workers to participate in the value they create, exercise their … Read More
Employee Ownership By the Numbers
Estimated Number of Plans and Employees; Value of Plan Assets.
The Road to Inequity is Paved with Good Intentions: Examining the Gender Pay Gap in Equity Awards
Using novel compensation data from two technology organizations that have been recognized as leaders for their gender equality efforts, we show that even when organizations are taking active steps to reduce gender inequality (and thus, likely have the best of intentions), pay gaps between female and male employees continue to exist. Specifically, we find that … Read More
The Making of a Democratic Economy: How to Build Prosperity for the Many, Not the Few
From Ted Howard, co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative, and Marjorie Kelly, author of The Divine Right of Capital and Owning our Future, The Making of a Democratic Economy is a clarion call for a movement ready to get serious about transforming our economic system. Illuminating the principles of a democratic economy through the stories of on-the-ground community wealth builders and … Read More
The New Trusts: Democratic Ownership Beyond the ESOP (Webinar)
The employee stock-ownership plan, or ESOP, is one of the most powerful legal innovations in recent US history. Since its introduction in the mid-1970s, millions of employees have benefited from being co-owners of the companies where they work. But ESOP formation has slowed in recent years, and it has come with shortcomings. A new generation … Read More
The Economic Argument for Stakeholder Corporations
The mainstream economic theory that guides corporations in the US only works if markets are perfectly efficient. This flawed theory has led to corporate decision-making that centers shareholders above all else, including other stakeholders (e.g., workers), long-term business growth, and economic health. This shareholder-first ideology is referred to as “shareholder primacy,” which does not reflect … Read More
The Value of ESOPs in Engineering Firms
While all kinds of businesses become employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) companies, there is a large percentage of engineering firms that have chosen the ESOP structure. Why so?
Level Headed – ESOP of Sundt Construction, Inc.
J. Doug Pruitt talks about the Sundt ESOP program.
Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Project Economic Justice
The Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice–In 1985, Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) members initiated and mobilized bipartisan support for Congressional legislation which established the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice under President Ronald Reagan. Project Economic Justice, which was first conceived in a strategy paper authored by CESJ, offered a revolutionary economic alternative to military solutions to regional conflicts in Central America and the Caribbean. Enacted as part of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985, this legislation created the first presidential task force to be totally funded with private donations and supported by both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. Former Ambassador to the Organization of American States and the European Community, The Hon. J. William Middendorf II, served as Chairman. CESJ’s president, Norman G. Kurland, served as deputy chairman.
Five Myths of Employee Ownership
This presentation discusses five myths surrounding employee ownership…
Distressed ESOP Sales Presentation for Sellers
Developed in 1989, these slides are placed on CLEO for researchers to use to ascertain some of the perceived motivations behind the types of transactions that were being discussed and closed during this period of ESOP history when many of the big, union-oriented ESOPs were being formed.
Understanding Support for ESOPs: Charts on Public Polling Data on Employee Ownership
This 2019 presentation shows the great degree of support among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents for employee ownership. Nearly three-fourths of respondents in a national survey said they would rather work for an employee-owned company than for shareholders or the government. That view transcended ideological and partisan divides, with 74 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of … Read More
When Workers Control the Code
With the emergence of worker-owned apps, where they own and run the marketplace themselves, the on-demand labor apps are seeing a new light. It’s a trend that could save the gig economy from itself. One of these apps is Up & Go, which lets you order house-cleaning services in New York City. The cleaners are … Read More
Do Employee Share Owners Face Too Much Financial Risk?
A major theoretical objection against employee ownership is that workers become inadequately diversified and exposed to excessive financial risk. Recent theory concludes that 10-15% of a worker’s wealth portfolio can be prudently invested in employer stock provided the rest of the portfolio is properly diversified. This paper analyzes employee share ownership in U.S. family financial … Read More
Building the Assets of Low and Moderate Income Workers and their Families: The Role of Employee Ownership
In 2015, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation engaged the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, to conduct a qualitative study examining the asset building impacts of employee ownership for low- and moderate-income employees and their families.