The authors undertake the first econometric study of efficiency for Eroski, the largest member of the Mondragon group of worker cooperatives. Three types of stores are found within Eroski: 1) cooperatives with significant employee ownership and voice; 2) cooperatives with modest employee ownership...

The authors analyze the differences between the behavior of private firms and that of producer cooperatives in a matched sample of the two organizational types from the regions of Emilia Romagna and Toscana in North-Central Italy, where producer cooperatives are numerous. Individual firm-level...

This paper describes changes in trade unions in Bulgaria, where a fundamental shift away from the old communist union model is in progress. The author discusses the emergence of plural unionism, changes in the structure and functions of unions, and changing relationships between unions and...

The authors use the econometric case study method to investigate the direct impact of offline teams on productivity in a non-unionized subsidiary of a multinational firm from January 1999 through November 2001. They analyze daily data on rejection, production, and downtime rates for both team...

By using weekly records on efficiency for four production lines in a Finnish food-processing plant during the period 1999–2005, the authors investigate the effects on production line performance once changes in Human Resource Management (HRM) practices were instituted. Using time-series...

This study examines data on French producer cooperatives for the years 1970–79 to test the widely accepted theoretical prediction that employee-owned firms either will fail as commercial undertakings or degenerate into capitalist firms as the proportion of hired workers who are not...

Using data for various years, including new data for 1973–84, the authors examine the scope, nature, determinants, and effects of Japanese employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). In 1988, of firms listed on Japan's eight stock exchange markets, 91% had an ESOP, and the average...