Employee share ownership in the contemporary business environment

In the contemporary business environment, human capital is decisive for the accomplishment of companies’ performance objectives. In the relevant literature, there are studies that present mixed results, regarding the relationship between employee share ownership and company performance. This research investigates the relationship between employee share ownership and company market value, by using a cross-sectional data set of French companies listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange. The results show that the status of employees as shareholders is positively related to the company market value in intermediate-sized enterprises, these results being inconsistent for small and medium enterprises along with large enterprises. These findings extend the literature on shareholder theory by a complementary approach, showing that company size plays an important role in the relationship between companies and their employees through the perspective of shareholder position. First published online 13 November 2026