Research Project
Full description This project, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), is a joint initiative of the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation, the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law and The Tax Group. Employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) are important to the development of an economic culture of enterprise and innovation and the building of national wealth and savings in response to long-term demands of intergenerational equity. ESOPs require development through appropriate regulatory frameworks. This project will subject the existing regime of tax, corporate and labour law to technical and empirical scrutiny. It will produce the first comprehensive analysis of how currently legal regulation structures and constrains the use of ESOPs in Australian enterprises. It will examine the current incidence and forms of ESOPs in Australia, the diversity of objectives that such schemes serve, the extent to which current corporate, tax and labour law inhibit ESOPs, and the case for reform of the regulatory framework. This will enhance the capacity of policy makers to evaluate and identify appropriate regulatory techniques to ensure the growth of efficiency of ESOPs at the national and enterprise level.
Data time period: 2006 to 2008