Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
Worker ownership of business enterprise has long been touted as a vehicle for community economic development. Employee stock ownership plans in leveraged buy-outs, ESOPs and broad-based stock options in going concerns, and worker cooperatives in selected sectors - the experience has varied widely in goals, method, and outcome.
This Article reflects on the continued utility of worker ownership as a component of community development and calls attention to contrasts with conventional corporate governance and goals. Rather than an end in itself or just another way of doing business, worker ownership can be a vital element of a broader job creation, community organizing, or community revitalization strategy. With respect to corporate structure theory, worker ownership presents a refreshing counterpoint to the conventional corporate governance debate in the Enron era. Its relevance is as a concrete alternative to conventional corporate practices and a hint of the potential in re-making the corporation as a more democratic social institution.
Publication Title
Journal of Small & Emerging Business Law
Volume
8
Article Number
1083
First Page
239
Suggested Bluebook Citation
Peter R. Pitegoff,
Worker Ownership in Enron's Wake - Revisiting a Community Development Tactic,
8
J. Small & Emerging Bus. L.
239
(2004).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/faculty-publications/84
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Business Organizations Law Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Organizations Law Commons