Shared Capitalism and Corporate Sustainability: Broad-Based Employee Share Ownership, CEO Ownership, and Corporate Environmental Performance

This research proposes that broad-based employee share ownership (ESO) affects corporate environmental performance (CEP). Drawing upon corporate governance literature, social exchange theory, and stakeholder utility theory, we propose that employees as owners adopt more favorable attitudes toward be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBusiness & society Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 163 - 208
Main Authors Lee, Jegoo, Kruse, Douglas L., Blasi, Joseph R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2025
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Capitalism
Companies
Employees
Governance
Labor unions
Ownership
Social exchange theory
shared capitalism
employee as owner
employee share ownership
corporate environmental performance
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Summary:This research proposes that broad-based employee share ownership (ESO) affects corporate environmental performance (CEP). Drawing upon corporate governance literature, social exchange theory, and stakeholder utility theory, we propose that employees as owners adopt more favorable attitudes toward beneficial outcomes for CEP, and that the broad-based impact of ESO overwhelms the impact of CEO ownership. Also, we propose that these relationships are contingent upon trade union presence as a form of worker voice that amplifies the ESO influence on CEP. The empirical results from U.S. publicly traded companies from 2009 to 2016 indicate that broad-based ESO is linked to positive CEP by companies, and provides some support for all proposed hypotheses. This study provides scholarly and practical implications for the effects of shared capitalist modes of ownership and employee engagement on corporate sustainability.
ISSN:0007-6503
1552-4205
DOI:10.1177/00076503241254532