Resource Library

The Democracy at Work Institute is building a comprehensive Resource Library that will include a wide range of materials, including academic papers, start-up toolkits, curriculum samples, actual documents from existing worker cooperatives, and more. The topic list below provides a map of the resources that will be available. We are also continuing to publish additional resources on a daily basis.

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Recently Added Resources

The Relative Survival of Worker Cooperatives and Barriers to Their Creation

Author(s): 
Erik Olsen
Year: 
2013
This paper argues the conjecture that worker cooperatives (WCs) are rare because of competitive disadvantages relative to conventionally-owned firms (CFs) is not supported by existing research. It surveys research on the survival and failure of WCs and CFs and estimates the nonparametric hazard and survival functions for CFs in the US. Because the rarity of WCs cannot be attributed to performance it must result from a low formation rate.

Firm Foundations for Democracy? Worker Ownership and Control in Advanced Capitalism

Author(s): 
Sanjay Pinto
Year: 
2013
To what extent do workers exert control within the workplace, and exercise voice in how the income generated by firms is distributed? And do they have ownership—not just in an affective sense, but in terms of share holdings or membership rights? The financial crisis opened up widespread discussion about prevailing modes of economic organization. But, for the most part, this discussion has been quite narrowly bounded, oscillating between two familiar poles. This paper tries to contribute to such a conversation by offering a macro-comparative backdrop.

Industrial districts and inter-firm co-operation in Italy

Author(s): 
F. Pyke, 0. Becattini and W. Sengenberger
Year: 
1992
Whilst economies all over the world in the late 1970s and 1980s set into recession and stagnation, frequently accompanied by serious deteriorations in labour and social conditions, rising unemployment, and insecurity, a few localities stood out as exhibiting a remarkable resilience and even growth. They were engaged in a variety of industries, and included not only advanced sectors but also more traditional, labour-intensive ones, and thereby posed a challenge to those who have argued that such economic activities can no longer succeed in high wage industrialised countries. Thus,

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