• J Lou@mastodon.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    2/5

    The empirical evidence I have seen on worker coops and employee-owned companies seems to suggest that worker-run companies are slightly more productive.

    I oppose socialism as I think markets are useful. I advocate economic democracy

    In an economic democracy, the employer-employee contract is abolished, so workers automatically legally get voting rights over management upon joining a firm.

    • sugar_in_your_tea
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      15 days ago

      worker-run companies are slightly more productive

      My understanding is that companies run by their founders are the most productive. Once that’s handed off, motives change.

      I’d like to see the research you’ve found though.

      I’ll also have to read more about economic democracy, because I’m not familiar with it.

      • J Lou@mastodon.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        1/4

        Broad-Based Employee Stock Ownership: Motives and Outcomes

        https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jofi.12150

        There seems to be a slight increase in productivity from large percentage ESOPs at not-so-numerous employee firms (NSNE firms). Smaller ESOPs increase productivity more at NSNE firms. A hypothesis worth testing would be whether unequally allocated non-voting preferred stock options improve this. Overall worker compensation increases from an ESOP

      • J Lou@mastodon.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        2/4

        For numerous employee firms, a larger ESOP seems to help mitigate the free rider effect associated with larger firms, but it isn’t conclusive because evidence is from a limited and unique sample. The free rider effect can potentially be overcome through peer pressure and co-monitoring. There are some cases where the benefits of these productivity gains of worker ownership don’t trickle up to voting shareholders

      • J Lou@mastodon.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        4/4

        - non-democratic practices like non-member employees and unrepresented worker constituencies

        https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X19899474

        David Ellerman is the best advocate for the economic democracy position.

        Here’s a short introduction to his arguments and inalienable rights theory more broadly to those coming from a classical liberal background: https://www.ellerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Classical-Liberal-JurisprudenceJune2018.pdf

      • J Lou@mastodon.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        3/4

        A hypothesis worth testing is whether unions as a sort of legitimate opposition help avoid free riding on management accountability.

        Having a voice in your group: Increasing productivity through group participation

        https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vm4hu

        When worker coops fail, it is from institutional design flaws not inherent to cooperatives such as
        - excessive direct democracy
        - insufficient emphasis on representative democracy and delegation
        - lack of independent board members