The Distribution of Financial Participation Schemes in British Workplaces Available to Purchase

Financial participation schemes have become much more prevalent in recent years. It is clear that many organisations view them as an important component in the search for competitive advantage. However, their distribution is far from universal and many firms have decided not to deploy them. For example, the third Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIRS 3) indicated that 57 percent of establishments possessed no profit‐sharing scheme and 66 percent possesses no share‐ownership scheme. Moreover, it is clear that not only does the penetration of different schemes vary but so does the pattern of their distribution.