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This paper explores the impact of employee ownership on employee attitudes, using attitudinal data obtained from four UK bus companies which had adopted the ESOP form of employee share ownership. After reviewing the recent UK literature, the paper highlights the findings from US literature that a `sense of ownership' is an important intervening variable between actual ownership and attitudinal change, and that opportunities for participation in decision- making are more important than ownership per se in generating feelings of ownership. The paper incorporates these possibilities in using a two-stage ordered probit model to explore the relationships between ownership and attitudinal outcomes. The findings support intrinsic and instrumental models of ownership, and indicate that feelings of ownership are significantly associated with higher levels of commitment and satisfaction., Attitudinal data from four UK bus companies is used to examine the impact of employee ownership on employee attitudes. Findings from US literature that a sense of ownership is an important intervening variable between actual ownership and attitudinal change, are also examined. A two-stage ordered probit model is used to examine the links between ownership and attitudinal outcomes, and the finding support intrinsic models of ownership, suggesting that feelings of ownership are linked to higher levels of commitment and satisfaction.

A case study of Algoma Steel in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada, has been used in recent research to give an insight into various issues relating to the growing number of employee buyouts currently taking place. The experiences at this company, where what has been described as a 'workplace revolution' took place, shed light in particular on the most successful approach to negotiating an employee buyout. As in most cases, the main driving force behind the buyout was the desire to save jobs.