NCEO Research Fund
For 40 years the NCEO has built a reputation for trusted, sound, effective research.
In just the last few years, we have
- Provided benchmark best practices data to hundreds of ESOPs, on executive and director compensation, corporate governance, and repurchase obligation.
- Become a prime source of user friendly comprehensive data on employee ownership.
- Brought employee ownership firmly into the national discussion of wealth inequality.
Our ambitious multi-year research plan includes rigorous projects drawing on national data sources and original research in five areas:
Documenting the impact of employee ownership as a business model.
Compile and analyze existing retirement plan data to evaluate what impact ESOPs and possibly other forms of employee ownership have on how companies fare in economic crises in terms of employment and plan asset values.
Documenting the role of ESOPs on improving the lives of individual employees and communities.
Compile and analyze data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. This will allow us to update our existing study with data from workers who are now 34 to 40 years old. This work affords the NCEO the opportunity to speak to large and important conversations on employee ownership’s role in reducing poverty and supporting vulnerable communities.
Measuring company outcomes in the ESOP universe.
This project moves beyond anecdotes to document the life cycle of ESOPs with precision: which are still thriving, which are expanding and acquiring, how much wealth was created for participants, how many terminate and for what reason. This is critical to inform the community about successes and to raise red flags about trends .
Determining the most effective ways to reach and communicate with owners of “ESOPable” businesses.
Drawing on the data from the U.S. Census to show the potential for employee ownership nationally, and where possible, by state. We also will collect original data on how best to engage these business owners, borrowing approaches from market research.
Informing our members on best practices and trends.
The more we are able to collect and distribute solid, rigorous data on company practices from executive compensation to repurchase obligation, from managing during COVID-19 to high engagement practices, the more the community benefits. We are working to expand our responses beyond our current membership. This requires research and planning on the best possible way to use incentives to broaden our reach.
How will donations be used?
Specifically, funding would help us:
- Cover NCEO staff time
- Hire student interns
- Provide incentives to respondents
- Publicize the results; and,
- Purchase proprietary datasets and sample lists for surveys and focus groups.
For more information, contact our research team at research@nceo.org.