Shared Capitalism Companies Among the Best to Work For

Three researchers used an exceptional dataset to examine the impact of employee ownership and other group incentives on company practices and performance. In a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Douglas Kruse, Joseph Blasi, and Richard Freeman conclude that "shared capitalist forms of pay are associated with high-trust supervision, participation in decisions, and information sharing, and with a variety of positive perceptions of company culture. At the firm level, shared reward forms of pay are associated with lower voluntary turnover and higher ROE [return on equity]. But it is the interaction between the mode of compensation and work practices and workplace culture that dominates the impact of shared capitalist pay on turnover and ROE." The data was collected by the Great Place to Work Institute, the organization that produces the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America," and includes extensive information on management practices, employee attitudes, and outcomes such as financial performance and turnover. The researchers define "shared capitalism" as employee stock ownership, profit and gain sharing, and broad-based stock options.