New Research on Patterns on ESOP Adoption

New research by Stephen Smela at the University of Minnesota shows that companies in the West North Central U.S. (basically, states in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Great Plains area) are somewhat more likely to adopt ESOPs than other areas, while a mid-Atlantic state location lowers the likelihood of adoption. Industry makes little difference, except for agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and services, although the differences are small for the latter two categories. High levels of unionization in an industry are related to lower adoption rates, as are high levels of work force fluctuation. Companies with high fluctuations in output, however, are more likely to have plans.