Call for Papers: Research Handbook on Employee Ownership
Call for Papers
Research Handbook on Employee Ownership
Edited by Kyoung Yong Kim, Joseph Blasi, William Castellano, and Adria Scharf
(To be published by Edward Elgar Publishing)
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OVERVIEW
Employee stock ownership, ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) in the U.S., Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) in the U.K. and Canada, worker cooperatives, and different other forms across the world have long been a central yet evolving topic in organizational studies, economics, and human resource management. As organizations and policymakers increasingly turn to ownership-based models to foster engagement, innovation, and equity, scholarly research on employee stock ownership continues to expand across disciplines and methodologies.
The Research Handbook on Employee Ownership aims to serve as the definitive reference for both current and future scholars interested in understanding the antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes of employee ownership. This volume will synthesize the state of the field, showcase leading-edge research, and set the agenda for the next generation of inquiry into employee stock ownership and its organizational, individual, and societal implications. The key objectives and suggested topics for the handbook are provided below.
OBJECTIVES OF THE HANDBOOK
*Provide a comprehensive overview of theoretical and empirical developments in employee stock ownership research.
*Highlight emerging perspectives and interdisciplinary insights from management, economics, sociology, and industrial relations.
*Serve as a key sourcebook and foundation for future scholarship on employee ownership, governance, and participatory capitalism.
*Offer policy and practice implications for leaders seeking to design and sustain employee-owned organizations.
SUGGESTED TOPICS (NOT EXHAUSTIVE)
Theoretical foundations of employee stock ownership
Employee stock ownership and its effects on employee attitudes and work outcomes
The role of broad-based equity compensation plans in private equity
Leadership, governance, and decision-making in employee-owned firms
Sorting, incentive, and cultural mechanisms of employee stock ownership
Comparative and cross-national perspectives on employee ownership
The role of institutional environments and policy frameworks
Employee ownership and organizational resilience, innovation, and performance
Ethical, justice, and sustainability dimensions of employee ownership
*We welcome any research on employee stock ownership that contributes to the literature.
IMPORTANT DATES
Proposal submission deadline: [January 31, 2026] ‒ While we welcome proposals, if a full paper is ready, you are welcome to submit it directly.
Notification of acceptance: We will respond to your proposal or full paper within one week of submission.
Full paper submission: [December 31, 2026] ‒ this is the final deadline, but we are flexible and can accommodate earlier or slightly later submissions based on authors' timelines.
Expected publication: [2027-2028]
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
*Authors are invited to submit an abstract (500–800 words) outlining their proposed paper, including the expected submission date of the full paper, objectives, theoretical framework, methods (if applicable), and contribution to the employee ownership literature.
*Submissions should be sent to: ESOP.research@gmail.com
*All papers will be reviewed to ensure high scholarly standards and coherence across the volume.
*There is no fee for submission, evaluation, acceptance or publication for manuscripts submitted to this handbook.
*Submitted manuscripts must be original and should not have been previously published nor be presently considered for publication elsewhere.
*All submitted manuscripts must be written in English.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to reach out to us at ESOP.research@gmail.com.
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Kyoung Yong Kim, Ph.D.
Kevin J. Hughes Family Endowed Senior Research Fellow
Associate Professor
Department of Management and Operations
Villanova School of Business
Villanova University
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