US Worker Co-Operatives and Their Spans of Management, Decision Making, and Governance: An Exploratory Analysis

Posted: 31 Oct 2016

Date Written: October 29, 2016

Abstract

Much has been written over the years about worker co-operatives as an alternative to traditional forms of business organization and ownership. The literature has mostly covered the issues of whether worker co-ops are more productive, more profitable and/or have a longer existence than traditional firms. This paper tries to fill some gaps in the literature by covering topics rarely if ever mentioned in writings on worker co-ops by exploring their spans of management, their decision making with regard to investment and hiring, and the governance input from their local communities. The results from a recent survey are interesting from an organizational behavior or institutional perspective in that worker co-ops show themselves generally to be different from most of their counterparts.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, community, small business, span of management, worker co-operatives.

JEL Classification: B50, P13, R11

Suggested Citation

Lambert, Thomas E., US Worker Co-Operatives and Their Spans of Management, Decision Making, and Governance: An Exploratory Analysis (October 29, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2861373

Thomas E. Lambert (Contact Author)

University of Louisville ( email )

Economics Dept.
Louisville, KY 40292

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