Show Me the Money: Does Shared Capitalism Share the Wealth?

This paper examines the effect of a variety of employee stock ownership programs – including ESOPs and broad based stock options – on employees’ holdings of their employers’ stock, their earnings and their total wealth. Two major datasets are employed: the NBER Shared Capitalism Research Project employee survey dataset and the 2002 national General Social Survey (GSS). Focusing on permanent, full-time employees with at least one year on the job, we find that 87% of employees in the NBER ‘shared capitalist’ firms, and 36% of employees in the national survey, own their employers’ stock. The NBER employees (including those who hold no company stock) hold an average of $50,000 of employer stock, compared with$13,200 for employees nationally. We find no evidence – either between datasets or between employees within datasets – of substitution of pay for stock ownership. Employee-owners earn more on average than non-owners, controlling for confounding factors, and report that it would be somewhat more difficult than GSS employees do to find another job that would replace their current pay and benefits. Finally, we find a rough similarity between the distribution of employer stock among the NBER employees (with the top 10% holding two-thirds) and the distribution of all stock among U.S. households (with the top 10% holding three-quarters). Wealth trickles down a little faster in the shared capitalist firms, perhaps, but it’s still just trickling.

Small-droplet spray measurements with a scattered-light scanner

Interacting two-phase flow through pneumatic two-fluid nozzles was investigated to determine the effect of nitrogen gas mass-velocity on the Sauter mean diameter of water sprays produced by the breakup of small diameter liquid-jets in high velocity gas streams. Tests were conducted primarily in the aerodynamic-stripping regime of liquid-jet atomization. It was found that the loss of droplets due to vaporization and dispersion had a marked effect on drop size measurements. A scattered-light scanner, developed at NASA Lewis Research Center was used to measure Sauter mean diameters, D sub 32, as small as 5 microns, which were correlated with nitrogen gas mass-velocity to give the following expression: D(sup -1)(sub 32) = 11.7(rho (sub n) V(sub n))(sup 1.33) where D sub 32 and p(sub n)V(sub n) are given in centimeters and g/sq cm-sec, respectively. The exponent 1.33 is the same as that predicted by atomizing theory for liquid-jet breakup in high velocity gas streams

Scattered-light scanner measurements of cryogenic liquid-jet breakup

The effect of highly turbulent Mach 1 gas flow and high thermal gradients on drop size measurements was investigated with a scattered light scanner. The instrument, developed at NASA-Lewis, was used to measure characteristic drop diameters or cyrogenic liquid sprays. By correcting for gas turbulence and thermal gradient affects, it was possible to obtain good reproducible data with the scattered light scanner. Tests were conducted primarily in the aerodynamic-stripping regime of liquid atomization and it was found that the loss of small droplets due to vaporization and dispersion had a marketed effect on drop size measurements. The nitrogen gas flow rate exponent of 1.33 is the same as that predicted by atomization theory for liquid jet breakup in high velocity gas flow. However, when the sprays were sampled farther downstream of the atomizer, at axial distances of 2.5 and 4.5 cm, the exponent for W sub n decreased 1.2 and 0.9, respectively. This was attributed to the loss of small droplets due to vaporization when values of downstream axial distances exceeded 1.3 cm

Motivating Employee-Owners in ESOP Firms: Human Resource Policies and Company Performance

What enables some employee ownership firms to overcome the free rider problem and motivate employees to improve performance? This study analyzes the role of human resource policies in the performance of employee ownership companies, using employee survey data from 14 companies and a national sample of employee-owners. Between-firm comparisons of 11 ESOP firms show that an index of human resource policies, nominally controlled by management, is positively related to employee reports of co-worker performance and other good workplace outcomes (including perceptions of fairness, good supervision, and worker input and influence). Within-firm comparisons in three ESOP firms, and exploratory results from a national survey, show that employee-owners who participate in employee involvement committees are more likely to exert peer pressure on shirking co-workers. We conclude that an understanding of how and when employee ownership works successfully requires a three-pronged analysis of: 1) the incentives that ownership gives; 2) the participative mechanisms available to workers to act on those incentives; and 3) the corporate culture that battles against tendencies to free ride.

Laser diffraction particle sizing: Instrument probe volume relocation and elongation

The effective probe volume of laser diffraction particle sizing instruments depends on many instrument parameters. In particular the probe volume axial boundaries and its location along laser beam are essentially defined by the onset of a vignetting effect where light scattered at large angles from small particles misses the transform lens. This vignetting effect results in a probe volume that must be inconveniently close to the lens in order to detect smaller diameter particles (less than 100 micrometers). With the addition of an appropriately designed Keplerian telescope, the probe volume may be relocated and elongated. The theory of operation of this supplemental optical system is described. Design considerations for these supplemental optical systems are described, including recommendations for lens specifications, assembly and use. An image transfer system is described which has been designed for use on a Malvern 2600HSD instrument. Experimental validation of this image transfer system is described

Motivating Employee Owners in ESOP Firms: Human Resource Policies and Company Performance

What enables some employee ownership firms to overcome the free rider problem andmotivate employees to improve performance? This study analyzes the role of humanresource policies in the performance of employee ownership companies, using employeesurvey data from 14 companies and a national sample of employee-owners. Between-firmcomparisons of 11 ESOP firms show that an index of human resource policies, nominallycontrolled by management, is positively related to employee reports of co-workerperformance and other good workplace outcomes (including perceptions of fairness, goodsupervision, and worker input and influence). Within-firm comparisons in three ESOP firms,and exploratory results from a national survey, show that employee-owners who participatein employee involvement committees are more likely to exert peer pressure on shirking coworkers.We conclude that an understanding of how and when employee ownership workssuccessfully requires a three-pronged analysis of: 1) the incentives that ownership gives; 2)the participative mechanisms available to workers to act on those incentives; and 3) thecorporate culture which battles against tendencies to free ride.human resources, industrial relations, employee ownership

Show Me the Money: Does Shared Capitalism Share the Wealth?

This paper examines the effect of a variety of employee ownership programs on employees' holdings of their employers' stock, their earnings and their wealth. Two major datasets are employed: the NBER Shared Capitalism Research Project employee survey dataset and the 2002 and 2006 national General Social Surveys (GSS). The GSS national survey shows that 29% of permanent, full-time employees with at least one year on the job own their employers' stock, compared to the unsurprisingly higher 87% of employees in the NBER "shared capitalist" firms. The employees in the national sample hold an average of $10,600 of employer stock, compared to$52,800 in the NBER sample. Employee owners in NBER companies with broad-based ownership structures fare better: those in majority-owned ESOPs hold on average $86,000 in company stock and those in broad-based stock option plans hold options worth an average of$283,000. We find no evidence -- either between datasets or between employee-owners and non-owners within datasets -- of substitution of company stock ownership for pay or benefits. Moreover, our analysis suggests that company stock ownership substantially raises total employee wealth, though it appears to have little effect on the overall distribution of wealth. These results suggest that employee ownership tends to raise both ownership stakes and economic resources of American workers across the economic spectrum.

Quantitative rainbow schlieren deflectometry

In the rainbow schlieren apparatus, a continuously graded rainbow filter is placed in the back focal plane of the decollimating lens. Refractive-index gradients in the test section thus appear as gradations in hue rather than irradiance. A simple system is described wherein a conventional color CCD array and video digitizer are used to quantify accurately the color attributes of the resulting image, and hence the associated ray deflections. The present system provides a sensitivity comparable with that of conventional interferometry, while being simpler to implement and less sensitive to mechanical misalignment

Design and Fabrication of a Dielectric Total Internal Reflecting Solar Concentrator and Associated Flux Extractor for Extreme High Temperature (2500K) Applications

The Analex Corporation, under contract to the NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC), Cleveland, Ohio, recently evaluated the feasibility of utilizing refractive secondary concentrators for solar heat receivers operating at temperatures up to 2500K. The feasibility study pointed out a number of significant advantages provided by solid single crystal refractive devices over the more conventional hollow reflective compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs). In addition to the advantages of higher concentration ratio and efficiency, the refractive concentrator, when combined with a flux extractor rod, provides for flux tailoring within the heat receiver cavity. This is a highly desirable, almost mandatory, feature for solar thermal propulsion engine designs presently being considered for NASA and Air Force thermal applications. Following the feasibility evaluation, the NASA-LeRC, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and Analex Corporation teamed up to design, fabricate, and test a refractive secondary concentrator/flux extractor system for potential use in the NASA-MSFC "Shooting Star" flight experiment. This paper describes the advantages and technical challenges associated with the design methodologies developed and utilized and the material and fabrication limitations encountered