Douglas L. Kruse
- Distinguished Professor, Human Resource Management (HRM)
- Distinguished Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER)
- Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
- Director, Program for Disability Research
Janice H. Levin Building, 94 Rockafeller Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8054
Former U.S. President Barack Obama and fellow members of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Doug Kruse has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He conducts econometric studies on employee ownership, profit sharing, disability, worker displacement, pensions, and wage differentials.
Professor Doug Kruse's book Profit Sharing: Does It Make A Difference? won Princeton's Richard A. Lester prize as the year's Outstanding Book in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations. His recent co-authored books include The Citizen’s Share: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century (Yale University Press),
People with Disabilities: Sidelined or Mainstreamed? (Cambridge University Press), Shared Capitalism at Work (University of Chicago Press). He has published over 100 scholarly papers, including articles in peer-reviewed journals such Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Economic Journal, Human Resource Management, Monthly Labor Review, Industrial Relations.
He has testified four times before Congress on his economic research, and conducted several studies for the U.S. Department of Labor and for the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
Professor Kruse served as Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers in 2013-2014. He is also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research (Cambridge, MA), a Research Fellow at IZA - The Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn, Germany), an editor of British Journal of Industrial Relations, and was appointed to New Jersey’s State Rehabilitation Council, the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s transition team.
Articles
"Do Broad-based Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing and Stock Options Help the Best Firms Do Even Better?"
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.54, No.1, March 2016. By Joseph Blasi, Richard Freeman, and Douglas Kruse.
“Projecting Potential Demand for Workers with Disabilities"
Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 133, No. 10, October 2010. By Douglas Kruse, Lisa Schur, and Mohammed Ali.
“Worksite Segregation and Performance-Related Attitudes”
Work and Occupations, February 2010; vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 45-72. By Niki Dickerson, Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Is Disability Disabling in All Workplaces? Workplace Disparities and Corporate Culture”
Industrial Relations, Vol. 48, No. 3, July 2009, pp. 381-410. By Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse, Joseph Blasi, and Peter Blanck.
“Corporate Culture and the Employment of People with Disabilities”
Behavioral Sciences and the Law, Vol. 23, 2005, pp. 3-20. By Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse, and Peter Blanck.
“Calibrating the Impact of the ADA’s Employment Provisions"
Stanford Law and Policy Review, Vol. 14.2, 2003, pp. 267-290. By Peter Blanck, Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse, Susan Schwochau, and Chen Song.
“Disability and Employment: Symposium Introduction"
Industrial Relations, Vol. 42, No. 1, January 2003. By Douglas Kruse and Thomas Hale.
“Employment of People with Disabilities Following the ADA"
Industrial Relations, Vol. 42, No. 1, January 2003, pp. 31-66. By Douglas Kruse and Lisa Schur.
“Does the Definition Affect the Outcome? Employment of People with Disabilities Under Alternative Disability Definitions,”
in David Stapleton and Richard Burkhauser, eds., Why the Decline in Employment of People with Disabilities: A Policy Puzzle. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2003, pp. 279-300. By Douglas Kruse and Lisa Schur.
“Enabling Democracy: Disability and Voter Turnout”
Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 1, March 2002, pp. 167-190. By Lisa Schur, Todd Shields, Douglas Kruse, and Kay Schriner. (Awarded prize by the Western Political Science Association as the best article published in the journal in 2002.)
“What Affects Voter Turnout? Lessons from Citizens with Disabilities”
Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2, June 2000, pp. 571-587. By Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse.
“Persons with Disabilities: Demographic, Income, and Health Care Characteristics,”
Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 121, No. 9, September 1998, pp. 13-22. By Douglas Kruse.
“The Role of Computer Skills in Employment and Earnings Following a Spinal Cord Injury”
Proceedings of the CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities, Los Angeles, CA, March 1997. By Douglas Kruse, Alan Krueger, and Susan Drastal.
“Computer Use, Computer Training, and Employment Outcomes Among People with Spinal Cord Injuries”
Spine, Vol. 21, No. 7, April 1996, pp. 891-896. By Douglas Kruse, Alan Krueger, and Susan Drastal.
Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Stock Options. “Worker Attitudes Toward Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Variable Pay”
in Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Self-managed Firms, edited by Jed DeVaro. Forthcoming. By Fidan Ana Kurtulus, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Employee stock ownership and diversification”
Annals of Operations Research, April 2010, Vol. 176, No. 1, pp. 95-107. By Harry Markowitz, Joseph Blasi, and Douglas Kruse.
“Labor Practices and Outcomes Across Countries: Analysis of a Single Multinational Firm”
in International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms, edited by Richard Freeman and Kathryn Shaw. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009, pp. 105-136.
“The Same Yet Different: Worker Reports on Labor Practices and Outcomes in a Single Firm Across Countries"
Labour Economics, August 2008, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 750-71. By Richard Freeman, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Broad-based Employee Stock Options in the United States: Company Performance and Characteristics”
Management Revue, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2007, pp. 5-22. By James Sesil, Maya Kroumova, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“The Changing Nature of Worker Ownership, Stock Options, and Profit Sharing in Corporate America"
in The New American Workplace, edited by Edward Lawler and James O'Toole. Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, 2006. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, and Richard Freeman.
"Are Diversification and Employee Ownership Incompatible?"
The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 18, No. 4, Fall 2006. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
"Employee Ownership in the 2002 General Social Survey"
The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 18, No. 3, Summer 2006. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“The Political Economy of Employee Ownership in the United States: From Economic Democracy to Industrial Democracy?"
International Review of Sociology, January 2006. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“Motivating Employee Owners in ESOP Firms: Human Resource Policies and Company Performance”
in Virginie Perotin and Andrew Robinson, eds.,Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Self-managed Firms, Vol. 8. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 2004. By Douglas Kruse, Richard Freeman, Joseph Blasi, Robert Buchele, Adria Scharf, Loren Rodgers, and Christopher Mackin.
“Does Employee Ownership Enhance Firm Survival?”
in Virginie Perotin and Andrew Robinson, eds., Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Self-managed Firms, Vol. 8. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 2004. By Rhokeun Park, Douglas Kruse, and James Sesil.
“The Effects of Restructuring Charges on Employer Contributions to Profit Sharing Plans”
Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 23, 2004, pp. 247-278. By Scott Jackson, Elaine Mauldin, William Wilcox, and Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Stock Ownership”
in Carl E. Van Horn and Herbert A. Schaffner, eds., Work in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Policy, and Society. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio, 2004, pp. 178-181. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“An Assessment of Employee Ownership In The United States With Implications For The EU”
International Journal of Human Resource Management, September 2003. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, James Sesil, and Maya Kroumova.
“Motivating Employee Owners in ESOP Firms: Human Resource Policies and Company Performance”
Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting, Industrial Relations Research Association, January 2003, pp. 307-317. By Douglas Kruse, Richard Freeman, Joseph Blasi, Robert Buchele, Adria Scharf, Loren Rodgers, and Christopher Mackin.
“Sharing Ownership via Employee Stock Ownership”
in Laixiang Sun, ed., Ownership and Governance of Enterprises: Recent Innovative Developments. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, pp. 96-123. By James Sesil, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Research Evidence on the Prevalence and Effects of Employee Ownership”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 14, No. 4, Fall 2002, pp. 65-90. By Douglas Kruse.
“Broad-based Employee Stock Options in High-Technology Firms: Company Performance Effects”
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 40, No. 2, June 2002, pp. 273-294. By James Sesil, Maya Kroumova, Joseph Blasi, and Douglas Kruse.
“Broad-based Stock Option Programs: A Union-Nonunion Comparison,”in David Lewin, ed., Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 2002. By Maya Kroumova, James Sesil, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Worker Ownership, Participation and Control: Toward a Theoretical Model”
in Michael J. Handel, ed., Sociology of Organizations: Classic, Contemporary and Critical Readings. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage Publications, 2002. By William Foote Whyte, Joseph Blasi, and Douglas Kruse.
“Broad-based Employee Stock Options in High-Technology Firms: Company Performance Effects”
Proceedings of the Global Human Resource Management Conference, June 2001. By James Sesil, Maya Kroumova, Joseph Blasi, and Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Equity: Employee versus Owner Issues in Organizations”
in Cary L. Cooper and Denise M. Rousseau, eds., Trends in Organizational Behavior, Volume 8. New York and London: John Wiley & Sons, April 2001. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“Is Employee Ownership An Unstable Form? Or A Stabilizing Force?”
in Margaret Blair and Thomas Kochan, eds., The New Relationship: Human Capital in the American Corporation. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2000. By Margaret Blair, Douglas Kruse, and Joseph Blasi.
“Broad-Based Stock Options and Company Performance: What the Research Tells Us”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 12, No. 3, Summer 2000. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, James Sesil, and Maya Kroumova.
“Decentralisation of Bargaining Systems and Financial Participation: A Comparative Analysis of Italy, UK, and the US”
Lavoro e Relazioni Industriali, Summer 1999, No. 1, pp. 1-41. By Alessandra Del Boca, Douglas Kruse, and Andrew Pendleton.
“Giving Employees an Ownership Stake”
Brookings Review, Fall 1999, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 23-26. By Margaret Blair and Douglas Kruse.
“Public Opinion Polls on Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 11, No. 3, Summer 1999, pp. 3-25. By Douglas Kruse and Joseph Blasi.
“Profit Sharing and the Demand for Low-Skill Workers”
in Richard Freeman and Peter Gottschalk, eds.,Generating Jobs: Increasing the Demand for Low-Skill Workers. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998, pp. 105-153. By Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Ownership, Employee Attitudes, and Firm Performance: A Review of the Evidence”
in Daniel J.B. Mitchell, David Lewin, and Mahmood Zaidi, eds.,Handbook of Human Resource Management. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 1997, pp. 113-151. By Douglas Kruse and Joseph Blasi.
Reprinted in Samuel Estreicher, ed., Employee Representation in the Emerging Workplace: Alternatives/Supplements to Collective Bargaining (Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998), pp. 581-626.
“Financial Returns of Public ESOP Companies: Investor Effects vs. Manager Effects”
Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 52, No. 4, Summer 1996, pp. 51-61. By Michael Conte, Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, and Rama Jampani.
“Why Do Firms Adopt Profit Sharing and Employee Ownership Plans?”
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 34, No. 4, December 1996, pp. 515-38. By Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Stock Ownership and Corporate Performance Among Public Companies”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 50, No. 1, October 1996, pp. 60-79. By Joseph Blasi, Michael Conte, and Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Ownership Through 401(k) Plans: The NCEO-Rutgers University Study”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol 8, No. 4, Fall 1996, pp. 13-32. By Susan Prolman and Douglas Kruse.
“The Impact of Financial Participation on Employee and Firm Performance”
Corporate Effectiveness and Human Resource Practices, Conference Proceedings, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois, October 1996, pp. 423-463. By Douglas Kruse and Joseph Blasi.
“Profit Sharing and Public Policy”
Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 28, No. 2, June 1994. By Douglas Kruse.
Reprinted in Basque journal Economiaz: Revista Vasca de Economia, Numero 33, 3er Cuatrimestre, 1995.
“Employees and Managers as Shareholders”
Human Resource Planning, Vol. 17, No. 4, 1994, pp. 31-40. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, and James Gasaway.
“Employee Ownership and Participation: Trends, Problems, and Policy Options”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance. Vol 5, No. 2, Spring 1993, pp. 41-73. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“The New Owners: Stock Price Performance for Public Companies with Significant Employee Ownership”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol. 4, No. 3, Summer 1992, pp. 95-130. By Joseph Blasi, Michael Conte, and Douglas Kruse.
“Profit Sharing and Productivity: Microeconomic Evidence from the United States”
Economic Journal, Vol. 102, No. 410, Jan. 1992, pp. 24-36. By Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Ownership” in Peter Newman, Murray Milgate, and John Eatwell, eds.,The New Palgrave Dictionary of Money and Finance. London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1992, pp. 759-761. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“Profit Sharing in the 1980's: Disguised Wages or a Fundamentally Different Form of Compensation?”
in Randall Eberts and Erica Groshen, eds.,Structural Changes in U.S. Labor Markets: Causes and Consequences. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1992. By Douglas Kruse.
“ESOPs, Profit Sharing, and Other Contingent Compensation Plans: How Do They Affect Corporate Performance?”
Financial Management, Winter 1991, pp. 91-100. By Michael Conte and Douglas Kruse.
“The Role of Profit Sharing in Employee Compensation”
Commentary (journal of the National University of Singapore), Vol. 9, No. 1/2, November 1991. By Douglas Kruse and James Chelius.
“Strategic Problems and Tactical Promise: Unions and Employee Ownership”
Labor Law Journal, Vol. 42, No. 8, August 1991, pp. 498-507. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“Employee Ownership: Opportunities for Unions”
Work Place Topics, Vol. 2, No. 1, July 1991, pp. 1-22. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“The New Owners: Employee Ownership in Public Companies”
Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Vol III, No. 3, Summer 1991, pp. 129-152. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
“Profit Sharing and Employment Variability:Microeconomic Evidence on the Weitzman Theory”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 44, No. 3, April 1991, pp. 437-453. By Douglas Kruse.
Reprinted in Morris Kleiner, ed., Industrial Relations: Institutions and Organizational Performance (Hampshire, England: Dartmouth, 1994).
“Profit Sharing and Productivity”
in Alan Blinder, ed., Paying For Productivity: A Look at the Evidence. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1990. By Martin Weitzman and Douglas Kruse.
Reprinted in Louis Putterman and Randy Kroszner, eds., The Economic Nature of the Firm, 1996.
Books
Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-Based Stock Options
Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, Gainsharing, and Broad-based Stock Options. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Edited by Douglas Kruse, Richard Freeman, and Joseph Blasi.
The historical relationship between capital and labor has evolved in the past few decades. One particularly noteworthy development is the rise of shared capitalism, a system in which workers have become partial owners of their firms and thus, in effect, both employees and stockholders. Profit sharing arrangements and gain-sharing bonuses, which tie compensation directly to a firm’s performance, also reflect this new attitude toward labor.
Shared Capitalism at Work analyzes the effects of this trend on workers and firms. The contributors focus on four main areas: 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. This volume provides essential studies for understanding the increasingly important role of shared capitalism in the modern workplace.
In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options (And Why Every Employee Should Have Them)
In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options (And Why Every Employee Should Have Them). New York: Basic Books, 2003. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, and Aaron Bernstein.
Named a “Noteworthy Book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics, 2003,” by Princeton University Industrial Relations Section.
Named as one of the top 10 business books of 2003 by Business Week.
A Working Nation: Workers, Work, and Government in the New Economy
A Working Nation: Workers, Work, and Government in the New Economy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000. By David T. Ellwood, Rebecca M. Blank, Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, William A. Niskanen, and Karen Lynn-Dyson.
Reviewed in Journal of Economic Literature, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Journal of Social Policy, and Monthly Labor Review.
Stock Options, Corporate Performance, and Organizational Change. Oakland, CA: National Center for Employee Ownership, 2000. By Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, James Sesil, Maya Kroumova, and Ryan Weeden.
Spinal Cord Injury: An Analysis of Medical and Social Costs. New York: Demos Publications, 1998. By Monroe Berkowitz, Paul O’Leary, Douglas Kruse, and Carol Harvey.
Kremlin Capitalism: The Privatization of the Russian Economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. By Joseph Blasi, Maya Kroumova, and Douglas Kruse.
Chinese translation published by Shanghai Far East Publishers in 2000.
Reviewed in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Australian Journal of International Affairs, British Journal of Sociology, Business and the Contemporary World, Business History, Business Week, Choice, Europe-Asia Studies, Economics of Transition, Fortune, Journal of East-West Business, Journal of Political Ecology, Library Journal, New York Review of Books, Review of Political Economy, Russian Review, Slavic Review, Social Science Journal, Washington Monthly, and World Today.
Profit Sharing: Does It Make A Difference?
Profit Sharing: Does It Make A Difference? Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1993. By Douglas Kruse.
Awarded “Richard A. Lester Prize for Outstanding Book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics, 1993,” by Princeton University Industrial Relations Section.
Reviewed in Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Comparative Economics, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Relations Industrielles.
The New Owners: The Mass Emergence of Employee Ownership in Public Companies and What it Means to American Business. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. By Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse.
Russian translation published by Delo Publishers (Moscow) in 1995.
Employee Ownership and Employee Attitudes: Two Case Studies.
Norwood, Pennsylvania: Norwood Editions, 1984. By Douglas Kruse.
Reviewed in British Journal of Industrial Relations, California Management Review, Economic and Industrial Democracy.
Media
Courses
- Ph.D. Seminar in Economics for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
- Economics and Demographics of Labor Markets
- Research Methods
