Blasi

Joseph R. Blasi

Distinguished Professor and J. Robert Beyster Professor of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University
Chapter Member: New Jersey-Philadelphia SSN
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Joseph

(848 ) 445-5444

About Joseph

Blasi studies economic sociology and public policy. In particular, he has investigated broad-based employee stock ownership, profit sharing, gain sharing, and stock options in corporations in several countries and industries, and in different historical periods of American history. In addition to his work at Rutgers, Blasi is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Within Rutgers, he worked for many years in the University Senate, serving as a member of its executive committee. He has also served as a Legislative Assistant in the United States House of Representatives.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Why Spreading Profits and Capital Ownership is the Best Way to Reduce Income Inequality in America

  • Richard B. Freeman
  • Douglas L. Kruse
Key Findings Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 38:
When Workers Become Owners

Episode 38:
Bonus - Jump on the Bandwagon

In the News

"Small Business Owners are Getting a New Incentive to Sell to Their Employees," Joseph R. Blasi (with Douglas L. Kruse), The Conversation, August 15, 2018.
"Tech Companies are Shutting Employees out of the Stock Market’s Boom," Joseph R. Blasi, Fortune, April 12, 2017.
"Capitalism for the Rest of Us," Joseph R. Blasi (with Richard B. Freeman and Douglas L. Kruse), New York Times, July 17, 2015.
Guest to discuss profit-sharing on MSNBC Lean Forward: Discussing the Citizen’s Share, Joseph R. Blasi, September 9, 2014.
Guest to discuss ways to reduce inequality on The Leonard Lopate Show: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century, Joseph R. Blasi, September 2, 2014.
"The Wealthy and Powerful Discover Inequality," Joseph R. Blasi, Time, August 20, 2014.

Publications

"The Citizen’s Share: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century" (with Richard B. Freeman and Douglas L. Kruse) (Yale University Press, 2014).
Argues that the Founders’ original vision of sharing ownership and profits offers a viable path toward restoring the middle class.
"Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-Based Stock Options" (with Richard B. Freeman and Douglas L. Kruse) (University of Chicago Press, 2010).
Discusses the fraction of firms that participate in shared capitalism programs in the United States and abroad, the factors that enable these firms to overcome classic free rider and risk problems, the effect of shared capitalism on firm performance, and the impact of shared capitalism on worker well-being.
"In the Company of Owners" (with Aaron Bernstein and Douglas L. Kruse) (Basic Books, 2007).
Argues that American companies would perform much better if they followed the lead of many high-tech firms and granted options to their entire workforce, rather than to just a tiny corporate elite. Explain how employees and shareholders alike would benefit if most large companies adopted what they call the partnership capitalism approach-using options to encourage employees to think and act like owners.