The Relative Effects of Share Ownership vs. Control on Job Attitudes in an Employee-Owned Company

Abstract

Studies on the effects of employee share ownership or employee participation in decisions (or control) have tended to focus on one or the other of the two variables or have assumed that they covary. Using data from an employee-owned company, this study attempts to empirically separate and assess the relative effects of each of these on a set of dependent variables (job attitudes) which they are both thought to affect. Results indicated that employee share ownership and participation each had significant and independent effects on some job attitudes. However, little evidence of interaction effects between the two variables, which had been predicted, was found. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed, and possible directions for future research are suggested.