Broad-based employee ownership and labour productivity during the 2008 recession : Evidence from public firms in Europe

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

12 Scopus Citations
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Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)396-423
Journal / PublicationBritish Journal of Industrial Relations
Volume58
Issue number2
Online published2 Dec 2019
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2020

Abstract

Did publicly traded European firms with employee ownership (EO) realize higher firm performance during or after the Great Recession? Contributing to the growing interest in exploring the association between EO and firm performance during and after the 2008 economic crisis, we draw on a longitudinal sample of 4,259 firm-years representing 892 publicly traded firms from 28 European countries. The results show that compared to firms without EO, those with EO experienced higher firm performance during or after the recession, albeit with small effect size. Consistent with past findings, we found that firms with EO were less likely to lower their employee count during or after the recession. Findings are robust to controlling for contemporaneous endogeneity and alternate specifications. Our results indicate that publicly traded European firms with EO, on average, realized higher firm performance in the face of the Great Recession.

Research Area(s)

  • Human resource management, Employee ownership, Stock ownership, Employee stock ownership plan, Firm performance, Labor productivity, Recession