Publications
Publications
- May 13, 2021
- Harvard Business Review (website)
The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership
By: Thomas Dudley and Ethan Rouen
Abstract
Wealth inequality in the U.S. has been increasing for decades: The richest 1% own a majority of all business wealth, and the top 10% own more than 90%. Companies, which have played a vital role in the growth in inequality can also play one in reducing it. One place to start is by expanding employees’ ownership stakes in companies, giving workers a path to building wealth. Our analysis finds that broad employee ownership would dramatically increase the wealth of the poor while having only a modest negative effect on the rich. There’s incentive for companies, too: Businesses with 30% or more employee ownership are more productive, grow faster, and are less likely to go out of business than their counterparts.
Keywords
Wealth; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employee Ownership; United States
Citation
Dudley, Thomas, and Ethan Rouen. "The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 13, 2021).
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