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Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Sacred Heart University

Journal

2010

Employee ownership

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Business

Does Employee Ownership Increase Innovation?, Robert Garrett Jan 2010

Does Employee Ownership Increase Innovation?, Robert Garrett

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

One way that firms attempt to innovate is through investment in R&D activity. However, there is much heterogeneity in innovations among firms making comparable R&D investments. This article explores employee ownership’s moderating effect on the relationship between R&D intensity and innovative output. The basis for the moderation is that ownership increases motivation and commitment to the innovation agenda of the company, and retains employees’ entrepreneurial efforts for internal opportunities. Using hierarchical regression, the data support the hypothesis that employee stock ownership positively moderates the relationship between R&D intensity and innovative output. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.