Employee participation in employee share ownership plans: The law, company objectives and employee motives

Abstract

Although Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are widely used in Australian companies, little is known about why employees participate in these plans. Yet understanding employee motivations for share ownership has significant implications for corporate governance, human resource practice and public policy. We first review the history of ESOP regulation in Australia in order to identify Federal Government policy rationales for ESOPs. We then identify employee motives for participating in employee share plans. Two hypotheses, using data from both employee shareholders and non shareholders in Australia are investigated: that employees participate because they are motivated by financial consid..