Worker Buyouts and Conventional Enterprises: Patterns of Strategic Convergence and Organizational Divergence

Alessandro Arrighetti, Fabio Landini, Andrea Lasagni and Marco Lomuscio

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Abstract: This paper examines the strategic and organizational trajectories of worker buyouts (WBOs) during their consolidation phase, comparing them with structurally similar investor-owned firms (IOFs). While the early stages of WBO development have been widely studied, little is known about their medium-term evolution. Using a matched comparison design and survey data from firms established between 2010 and 2019, the study explores strategic orientation, investment and innovation behavior, organizational practices, human resource management, sources of competitive advantage and operational constraints of WBOs and IOFs. The findings reveal a dual dynamic of convergence and differentiation. WBOs adopt strategic and operational practices akin to those of IOFs, yet they also preserve distinctive participatory and employment-preserving features embedded in their cooperative governance model. While facing structural financial constraints, they exhibit stronger internal cohesion and greater involvement of workers in decision-making. Overall, the study reveals how WBOs balance convergence with conventional firm practices and the preservation of cooperative distinctiveness, shedding light on their capacity to remain both competitive and socially embedded.

Keywords: Worker buyouts (WBOs); investor-owned firms (IOFs); matched comparison design strategy; capabilities; performance; organizational capability; personnel capability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-eur and nep-sbm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:333204

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