On the Advantages of a System of Labour-Managed Firms

Abstract

This paper offers an outline of a large body of economic literature which discusses the advantages of a system of employee-managed firms: the disempowerment of capitalists thanks to the suppression of their right to make decisions in cooperative firms; appreciable efficiency gains from worker involvement in production processes; a softer competitive regime and small risks of insolvency; an end to external firm control and, consequently, to the sway of multinational corporations; reduced monopoly building; a socially determined income distribution pattern and economic efficiency gains from a lesser need for state intervention.