Beyond the short-term: the effects of broad-based employee ownership on labor productivity in family and nonfamily firms
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 16 August 2022
Issue publication date: 17 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates whether broad-based employee ownership (BBEO), in isolation and in conjunction with cash profit sharing (CPS), can enhance labor productivity in family firms over nonfamily firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypothesis testing was conducted using cross-sectional time-series regression with a matched sample of 393 family and nonfamily firms listed on the US S&P 500 over a five-year timeframe.
Findings
Overall, the findings indicate that BBEO does not increase labor productivity more in family firms compared to nonfamily firms in the short term; however, BBEO does enable family firms to experience greater labor productivity relative to nonfamily firms beyond the short term. Moreover, when BBEO is combined with CPS, labor productivity improves more for family firms than nonfamily firms both in the short term and beyond.
Originality/value
While prior studies have relied largely on agency theory, this study contributes to the literature on family firms and employee incentives by being amongst the first to draw upon temporal motivation theory to distinguish between family and nonfamily firms regarding the incentive effect of BBEO on labor productivity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank action editor Domingo Ribeiro Soriano and two anonymous reviewers for the valuable and constructive feedback. Also, the author is grateful for the support of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University through the Louis O. Kelso Fellowship.
Citation
Mullins, F. (2023), "Beyond the short-term: the effects of broad-based employee ownership on labor productivity in family and nonfamily firms", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 195-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-12-2021-0970
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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