Profitability and Profit-Sharing

Warning: is_dir(): open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/libraries) is not within the allowed path(s): (/home/web1050:/usr/share/php) in libraries_get_libraries() (line 176 of /home/web1050/public_html/sites/all/modules/contrib/libraries/libraries.module).

Claims that profit-sharing is a purely distributive "wealth confiscation scheme" without incentive effects (due to free-rider problems) are based on neglect of cooperation and interaction in the workforce. When these activities are difficult to monitor directly, group incentives such as profit-sharing can increase efficiency and maintain a superior Nash-equilibrium with strictly individual optimization. With simultaneous WLS-Tobit estimates we find here strong effects of profit-sharing and worker ownership shares on residual owners' return on capital in medium-sized metal working firms in West Germany, complementing earlier results on productivity.