Democracy at Work Institute - Original Research

Democracy at Work Institute - Original Research

Becoming Employee-Owned

Author(s) : Camille Kerr, Joe Rinehart
Year :

Becoming Employee-Owned is a guide for business owners interested in employee ownership. It provides an overview of the three primary transition approaches for employee ownership: worker cooperatives, ESOPs, and management buy-outs. Regardless of what stage the business is in--from expansion to succession planning-- this resource can help business owners understand their options for becoming an employee-owned company.

Creating Better Jobs and a Fairer Economy with Worker Cooperatives

Creating Better Jobs and a Fairer Economy with Worker Cooperatives

Author(s) : Democracy at Work Institute
Year :

Worker cooperatives are a powerful tool for economic and community development. This resource describes their role in creating a more just economy. It provides an overview of the benefits of the cooperative form, with examples of existing cooperatives and quotes from worker-owners. The resource also describes current initiatives to develop cooperatives by nonprofits, as well as government initiatives to spur the growth of the sector. 

Choosing a Business Entity: A Guide for Worker Cooperatives

Author(s) : Camille Kerr
Year :

When forming, worker cooperatives have an important choice to make regarding their legal entity. Each entity type has implications on important issues including taxation, employment law, and access to capital. This resource is intended to give a brief overview of the entity types and lay out the issues worker cooperatives may want to consider when choosing which is the best fit for the business at whatever stage it is currently in.

Capturing the Imagination of Future Social Entrepreneurs: A Robust University Based Anchor Institution-led Development Model

Author(s) : Sherman Kreiner
Year :

This is an overview of the University of Winnipeg's anchor-led model for community economic development. It positions the Winnipeg model as a robust example of an anchor institution strategy, and includes a broad survey of US worker cooperative development and movement-building efforts of the last 30 years.

 

 

 

Preliminary Census of Worker Cooperatives in the United States

Author(s) : Melissa Hoover, with support from Logan Harris and Amy Johnson
Year :

The purpose of this study is to get as current and accurate a count as possible of the worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces in the United States. Some previous counts were done in the 2000s, and most recently the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives' study of the economic impact of cooperatives included worker cooperatives. But there were issues with all of these studies, and moreover none of them gathered data on longevity.