Do investments in human capital lead to employee share ownership? Evidence from French establishments.

Investments in human capital can create a hold-up problem whereby both employers and employees exploit the bargaining weaknesses of the other. Employee share ownership (ESO) can mitigate this hold-up problem because it can align interests, develop loyalty, signal good-will and lock in employees. Previous studies have shown positive relationships between company investments in human capital and the use of ESO consistent with this argument but have been unable to identify the direction of causality. Using panel data from the French REPONSE survey, the findings indicate that significant and continuous investments in human capital take place prior to the implementation of ESO

Employee Share Ownership Plans: A Review

This paper reviews the main strands of research on employee share ownership over the last forty years. It considers research findings in the literature on types of share ownership, the incidence of share ownership plans, the ‘determinants’ of the use of share plans by companies, influences upon employee participation in share plans, the effect of share ownership on employee attitudes and behaviour, the effect on company performance, and the relationship between share ownership plans and other forms of employee participation. The paper does not provide a comprehensive review of the literature on these topics: instead it highlights the main findings that have emerged in the literature to date, and suggests some avenues for future research. It is suggested that majority worker ownership is different in character and effects from ‘mainstream’ minority employee share plans in large companies but the literature has tended to conflate the two. It is argued that future research needs to distinguish the various forms of employee share ownership if the impact of share ownership is to be more precisely calibrated

Patterns of Employee Particpation and Industrial Democracy in UK ESOPs

This paper examines the institutional characteristics of UK ESOPs and considers the extent to which ESOPs extend employee participation and industrial democracy. It is suggested that ESOPs in themselves do not extend industrial democracy. Instead patterns of employee participation are substantially determined by the goals of those primarily responsible for establishing the ESOP. Three constellations of ESOPs are discerned on the basis of their participative characteristics: `technical ESOPs' where there is little or no development of industrial democracy; `paternalist ESOPs' which tend to develop individualistic forms of employee participation; and `representative ESOPs' where new institutions are created to give some opportunity for involvement of employee representatives in top decisions.

Waterfowl Pair and Brood Use of Dug brood Complexes in East-Central South Dakota

Modification of wetlands has been a frequently employed management technique to enhance habitat for waterfowl and other wetland wildlife. One type of excavation in wetland basins is the dug brood complex; an interconnected system of pond units, channels, and islands, primarily created to provide waterfowl brood rearing habitat during drought. In 1981-82, a study was conducted to evaluate waterfowl pair and brood use of 8 pairs of Class IV wetlands in east-central South Dakota. Each pair consisted of a wetland with a dug brood complex (modified) and an unmodified basin of comparable basin size. Under drought conditions in 1981, both modified and unmodified wetlands were dry by the broods-rearing season, and therefore, produced few or no ducks. With improved water conditions in 1982, there were both greater brood densities and brood species diversities on wetlands with excavated ponds than on unmodified wetlands. This may be attributed to more open water, deeper water in excavated ponds and channels, and a greater edge effect in modified wetlands than in control wetlands. Pair and brood use of modified wetlands was found to increase as surface water area, open water area, and water depth increased. Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and gadwalls (A. strepera) most frequently used dug brood complex islands for nesting. In the event of additional dug brood pond construction, consideration should be given to creating small, rectangular islands spaced as far from one another and the basin edge as possible. Wetlands with dug brood complexes provided habitat for swimming, resting, feeding, and comfort activities by ducks. Open water areas were attractive to dabbling ducks and some diving ducks, and may serve as waiting sites for paired males. Edge area were important feeding areas for ducklings. Future evaluations of modified wetlands should include pre-modification and post-modification studies to better evaluate changes in waterfowl density, diversity and production

Financialization, new investment funds, and weakened labour: the case of the UK

The chapter shows that the UK has the highest levels of PE, HF, and SWF activity in Europe. This is explained primarily by the permissive nature of UK financial and securities regulation and, to a lesser extent, of labour regulation. Fund activity grew significantly up to 2007 and then declined in the case of PE and HFs; since 2010, there has been a recovery in PE and HF activity. It is rare for NIFs to consult with labour before and during the acquisition process. NIF intervention and acquisition does create some turbulence in employment, with initial job loss, though also with later job creation. Evidence on the effect on industrial relations is limited, but suggests that in most cases NIFs do not make major changes. Since the recession there have been several high profile cases of PE having a negative effect on employment systems

Do investments in human capital lead to employee share ownership? Evidence from French establishments

Investments in human capital can create a hold-up problem whereby both employers and employees exploit the bargaining weaknesses of the other. Employee share ownership (ESO) can mitigate this hold-up problem because it can align interests, develop loyalty, signal good-will and lock in employees. Previous studies have shown positive relationships between company investments in human capital and the use of ESO consistent with this argument but have been unable to identify the direction of causality. Using panel data from the French REPONSE survey, the findings indicate that significant and continuous investments in human capital take place prior to the implementation of ESO

Time Dependent Clustering Analysis of the Second BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog

A time dependent two-point correlation-function analysis of the BATSE 2B catalog finds no evidence of burst repetition. As part of this analysis, we discuss the effects of sky exposure on the observability of burst repetition and present the equation describing the signature of burst repetition in the data. For a model of all burst repetition from a source occurring in less than five days we derive upper limits on the number of bursts in the catalog from repeaters and model-dependent upper limits on the fraction of burst sources that produce multiple outbursts.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, uuencoded compressed PostScript, 11 pages with 4 embedded figure