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Douglas L. Kruse

Distinguished Professor of Economics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Areas of Expertise:

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About Douglas

Kruse use econometrics to explore topics ranging from employment of those with disabilities and worker displacement to employee ownership; profit sharing; and stock options. A former Senior Economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors; Kruse is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research; and serves as the director of the Rutgers Program for Disability Research. Additionally; he was a member of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities; and the New Jersey State Rehabilitation Advisory Council.

Contributions

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

  • Joseph R. Blasi
  • Richard B. Freeman

In the News

Opinion: "Small Business Owners are Getting a New Incentive to Sell to Their Employees," Douglas L. Kruse (with Joseph R. Blasi), The Conversation, August 15, 2018.
Opinion: "Capitalism for the Rest of Us," Douglas L. Kruse (with Joseph R. Blasi and Richard B. Freeman), New York Times, July 17, 2015.
Research discussed by Joseph R. Blasi, in "The Argument for Profit Sharing," Huffington Post, March 3, 2015.
Research discussed by Joseph R. Blasi, in "A Founding Father Profit Sharing Fix for Inequality," The Daily Beast, July 12, 2014.

Publications

"The Citizen’s Share: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century" (with Richard B. Freeman and Joseph R. Blasi) (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 Joseph R. Blasi) (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 Joseph R. Blasi) (Basic Books, 2003).
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.