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Fellows and affiliates of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing produce a large volume of research addressing a variety of questions related to capital and profit shares. This collection of research briefs summarizes new research findings.



How Many Firms Are Good Candidates for Employee Ownership?: Estimates from US Census Data 

Matt Mazewski | April, 2025

In this research brief, we provide back-of-the-envelope calculations showing that, as of 2022, about 140,000 firms employing around 33 million workers would have been suitable candidates for ESOP employee buyouts, and nearly 1.1 million firms employing over 25 million workers suitable candidates for cooperative employee buyouts. Collectively, these firms accounted for roughly $25 trillion in … Read More

Employee Ownership Plans According to Earnings, Gender, and Race in the United States

Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing | April, 2025

This report presents six easy-to-read charts about differences in the average dollar value of employee ownership by the annual earnings, gender, and race of employees. As averages, this gives a snapshot from random samples from employee surveys from the US General Social Survey across the entire US population. It answers the question: How broadly has … Read More

What are the Critical Success Factors of Employee Ownership?

Frank Shipper, Valerie J. Whitcomb | January, 2025

Questions: What are the critical success factors (CSFs) for employee ownership and why are they important? The focus of this research is to identify factors that must receive top priority during a high-stakes implementation. Summary: This research identifies the essential CSFs of employee ownership as discovered in 100 carefully curated articles, cases, and books dedicated … Read More

Where Employee Ownership Works Best

Colin Birkhead, Mark Hand | January, 2025

Questions : How do community-level factors contribute to the prevalence of employee share ownership companies? How do community-level factors affect the survival of employee share ownership firms? Summary : This research explores the prevalence and survival of broad-based employee share ownership (ESO) firms and characteristics of the communities where they exist. We examine ESO firms … Read More

Business Owner Responsiveness to Employee Ownership Outreach Efforts

Vipul Bokil | January, 2025

Questions: What characteristics of businesses and business owners impact their responsiveness to employee ownership as a business model? Do different outreach messages influence their responsiveness differently, and if yes, how? Generally, what conditions make business owners more receptive to information about employee ownership? Summary : Analyzing quantitative and qualitative data collected as part of a … Read More

Employee Satisfaction with ESOP Plans: Key Drivers and Insights

Kyoung Yong Kim | January, 2025

Question : How Satisfied Are Employees with Their ESOP Plans and What Factors Influence Their Satisfaction? Summary : This research is based on the National ESOP Survey administered in 2019-2021 for ESOP workers, supported by the Employee Ownership Foundation. The survey is a non representative sample of 9 ESOP firms that offers insights on certain … Read More

Sharing is Caring: Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Employee Satisfaction in U.S. Manufacturing

Adrianto, Ainhoa Urtasun, Avner Ben-Ner, Jason Sockin | January, 2025

Questions : Are employees more satisfied at employee-owned firms? What factors enhance their satisfaction? Summary : Examining workers’ reviews of their employers on Glassdoor, we compare employee satisfaction between firms in which workers own company shares through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and conventional firms in which they do not. Focusing on workers in … Read More

ESOPs and Employee Involvement in Workplace Decision Making

Jung Ook Kim | December, 2023

Question: How does the involvement of employee owners in ESOP companies in making various workplace decisions compare to employee involvement in non-ESOP companies? Answer: Comparing ESOP vs non-ESOP workers, ESOP workers showed greater involvement in work organization, scheduling, and safety, but lower involvement in setting pay/benefits compared with the non-ESOP workers. However, ESOP companies tend … Read More

ESOPs and Retiree Wealth: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Matt Mazewski | December, 2023

Questions: What impact do ESOPs have on wealth in retirement? In particular, what is the relationship between prior ESOP participation and the average wealth of worker-owners once they retire? And what effect (if any) do ESOPs have on wealth inequality among retirees? Summary: Using data from the 2008-2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, … Read More

Employees’ Low Pay Satisfaction: Possible Solutions?

Kyoung Yong Kim | February, 2023

Question: How satisfied are employees with their pay in ESOP firms, and what are the possible solutions to employees’ low pay satisfaction? Answer: In this group of nine ESOP firms, some employees report that they are paid an above-average wage, but some report they are paid a below-average wage. Those with a below-average wage are … Read More

Women in ESOPs

Jung Ook Kim | April, 2022

Questions: How do women fare in ESOPs? How do women in ESOPs compare to women not in ESOPs? Summary: Some gender differences in the larger society are reflected in ESOP companies. There are fewer women than men in ESOPs. Within ESOPs there are fewer women in top management and highly trained/high pay occupations. Women in … Read More