{"id":1637,"date":"2026-09-10T17:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/?p=1637"},"modified":"2026-09-10T17:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:58:23","slug":"book-governing-the-firm-workers-control-in-theory-and-practice-gregory-k-dow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/?p=1637&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Book: Governing the Firm: Workers\u2019 Control in Theory and Practice \u2013 Gregory K. Dow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gregory K. Dow, <em>Governing the Firm: Workers\u2019 Control in Theory and Practice<\/em>, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 343 pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-81853-7 (hardback); 978-0-521-52221-2 (paperback).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gregory K. Dow\u2019s <em>Governing the Firm: Workers\u2019 Control in Theory and Practice<\/em> is <strong>a comprehensive theoretical and empirical study that seeks to explain why worker-controlled firms are so rare compared with capitalist firms<\/strong>. Dow begins with a simple but fundamental question: if models in which workers exercise democratic control over the firm are viable and in some respects advantageous, why does ultimate control in modern economies usually remain in the hands of capital owners? He approaches this not only as a question about the rarity of workers\u2019 control, but also as a question about why the capitalist form of enterprise persists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the book\u2019s important contributions is its <strong>distinction between ownership and control<\/strong>. According to Dow, the question of who owns a firm\u2019s physical assets is not the same as the question of who holds ultimate decision-making authority within the firm. In a capitalist firm, the board of directors is chosen by capital owners and managers are ultimately accountable through this structure; in a worker-controlled firm, governing bodies are chosen by the workforce and are accountable to the workers. Workers\u2019 participation in various committees or their limited influence over management therefore does not in itself constitute workers\u2019 control; what matters is <strong>who holds ultimate control over the firm\u2019s fundamental decisions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In explaining the obstacles to the expansion of workers\u2019 control, Dow focuses particularly on the <strong>structural asymmetry between capital and labour<\/strong>. Whereas capital can be transferred from one person to another, labour cannot be separated from the person who supplies it. This difference can create problems for worker-controlled firms in accessing finance, attracting outside investment, transferring membership and control rights, and making collective decisions. In Dow\u2019s assessment, arguments suggesting that worker-controlled firms are rare simply because workers lack sufficient incentives are inadequate; financial constraints and collective-choice problems offer stronger explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The book also provides a comparative examination of different experiences of workers\u2019 control. Plywood cooperatives in the United States, the Mondrag\u00f3n cooperatives, Italy\u2019s Lega system, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in the United States, and German codetermination are examined in terms of financing, governance, membership, income distribution, legal frameworks, and workers\u2019 actual decision-making power. Dow thus does not reduce workers\u2019 control to a single organisational model; instead, he considers within the same analytical framework a range of arrangements extending from full workers\u2019 control to more limited forms of participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the book\u2019s notable conclusions is that <strong>the fundamental problem facing worker-controlled firms is not necessarily their inability to survive<\/strong>. The evidence examined by Dow suggests that, once established, these firms do not have higher failure rates than comparable capitalist firms and may in fact have lower ones. One of the central problems lies instead in the financial, informational, bargaining, and collective-action barriers that make it difficult to establish such firms in the first place or for workers to take over existing capitalist enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the final chapter, Dow moves beyond a purely theoretical discussion of workers\u2019 control and considers <strong>institutional arrangements that could support employee buyouts and the expansion of worker-controlled firms<\/strong>. Drawing particularly on the experiences of Mondrag\u00f3n and Italy\u2019s Lega, he emphasises the importance of federations, shared financial institutions, and public support beyond individual enterprises. Such structures can facilitate access to finance, pool risks, provide specialised services, and support the creation of new worker-controlled firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this respect, <em>Governing the Firm<\/em> is <strong>an important source that examines workers\u2019 control not merely as a democratic ideal, but as a form of enterprise that emerges and is sustained under specific economic, institutional, and organisational conditions<\/strong>. While defending the possibilities of workers\u2019 control, the book also addresses practical problems such as financing, collective decision-making, scale, membership structures, and market conditions, thereby offering a more critical and institutional perspective on workers\u2019 control and self-management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregory K. Dow, Governing the Firm: Workers\u2019 Control in Theory and Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 343 pp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1638,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637\/revisions\/1638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscidenetimi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}