ǂThe ǂ determinants of employee ownership plan implementation in EU countries - the quest for economic democracy

ǂa ǂfirst look at the evidence

Abstract

Background and purpose: Kelso’s quest to identify the economic counterpart of political democracy and, as a corollary, his concern about the nature of the economic system’s organisation needed to support the institutions of a politically free society, contributed two important terms: economic power and democracy. Following Kelso’s reasoning, my research study aims to understand the determinants of the implementation of economic democracy, measured by the incidence of employee share ownership plans, within European Union countries. Methodology: Setting out with the theory of one of the founding fathers of employee stock ownership plans, I perform a cross-country analysis spanning five years (2008-2012) to explain the incidence level of employee ownership by independent variables operationalizing the political, legal, socio-educational and economic structures of twenty European Union countries. Using secondary data from the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership, I explain the determinants’ pertinence, while accounting for severe data limitations. Results: I report a strong correlation between employee ownership incidence and the index of economic freedom. However, the labour market’s freedom, the trustworthiness of and confidence in financial markets and the quality of secondary and tertiary education do not deliver clear-cut results. Conclusion: Further research should comprehensively scrutinise country-specific factors regarding corporate governance issues and cross-cultural controls. Employee ownership researchers should consider this field of research to understand why countries that are so-called employee ownership champions are experiencing widening income inequality.

Keywords

employee ownership;economic democracy;free markets;economic freedom;equity markets;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2016
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UM FOV - Faculty of Organizational Sciences
UDC:	331.107.5:658.114.2
COBISS:	285684736
ISSN:	1318-5454
Parent publication:	Organizacija
Views:	601
Downloads:	101
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Determinante izvajanja načrta lastništva zaposlenih v državah EU - prizadevanje za ekonomsko demokracijo
Secondary abstract:	Ozadje in namen: Kelso-vo je prizadevanje za določitev ekonomske vrednosti politične demokracije in, kot posledica, njegova zaskrbljenost o naravi organizacije gospodarskega sistema, ki je potreben za podporo institucij politično svobodne družbe, je utemeljilo dva pomembna pojma: gospodarska moč in demokracija. Izhajajoč iz Kelso-vega razmišljanja, sem si v raziskavi postavil za cilj proučiti dejavnike izvajanja ekonomske demokracije, merjeno z pojavnostjo načrtov lastništva zaposlenih v državah Evropske unije. Metodologija: Izhajajoč iz teorije enega od ustanoviteljev načrta lastništva zaposlenih, sem analiziral podatke iz več držav za obdobje pet let (2008-2012), z namenom pojasniti stopnjo pojavnosti lastništva zaposlenih z upoštevanjem neodvisnih spremenljivk, ki opisujejo politične, pravne, socialno-izobraževalne in gospodarske strukture v dvajsetih državah Evropske unije. Z uporabo sekundarnih podatkov iz Evropske zveze za lastništvo zaposlenih bom razložil primernost teh determinant, upoštevajoč omejitve glede dosegljivosti podatkov. Rezultati: V raziskavi ugotavljam, da obstaja jasna povezava med pojavnostjo lastništva zaposlenih in indeksom ekonomske svobode. Nisem pa našel jasne zveze med svobodo trga dela, verodostojnostjo in zaupanjem v finančne trge in kakovostjo sekundarnega in terciarnega izobraževanja in pojavnostjo lastništva zaposlenih. Zaključek: Nadaljnje raziskave naj bi celovito proučile dejavnike za posamezne države v zvezi z vprašanji o upravljanju podjetij in poiskale medkulturne razlike. Raziskovalci lastništva zaposlenih naj uporabijo rezultate te empirične raziskave, da bi razumeli, zakaj v državah, na katere gledamo kot napredne glede lastništva zaposlenih, kažejo vse večje dohodkovne neenakosti.
Secondary keywords:	podjetja;zaposleni;lastniki;kolektivna lastnina;kapitalska razmerja;
URN:	URN:NBN:SI
Type (COBISS):	Scientific work
Pages:	str. 94-107
Volume:	ǂVol. ǂ49
Issue:	ǂno. ǂ2
Chronology:	May 2016
DOI:	10.1515/orga-2016-0007
ID:	10899954