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So far COBAP Author has created 31 blog entries.

The Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership 2025: Incubating Ideas for Participatory Capitalism

The 2025 Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership brought together international leaders, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to explore and advance models of shared equity and participatory capitalism. Held annually, this prestigious event is a focal point for the global employee ownership movement, offering a forum to address regulatory, financial, and cultural barriers to expanding Employee Stock

2025-08-11T06:03:28-05:00Tags: , , , , , , , |

Slovenia proposes legislation for core elements of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)

Slovenia has taken a major step toward promoting shared prosperity and long-term economic
resilience by introducing legislation that incorporates core elements of the Employee Stock
Ownership Plan (ESOP) model into its legal system. The Vlada Republike Slovenije (Government
of the Republic of Slovenia) recently approved the draft of the Employee Ownership
Cooperative Act, establishing a formal, systemic framework that

2025-07-31T15:50:39-05:00Tags: , , , , , |

John Hoffmire’s Bio

John Hoffmire is Research Associate at the Centre for Mutual and Co-owned Business at University of Oxford’s Kellogg College. His main areas of expertise are employee ownership, impact investing, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, crowdfunding, ownership, and wealth.

He is probably best known, presently, for helping to curate the Oxford Employee Ownership Symposium, in cooperation with The ESOP

2025-06-04T14:10:40-05:00

The Origins and Growth of Employee Stock Ownership in the United States

Employee stock ownership and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) have become a key component of corporate culture and economic participation in the United States. The concept traces its origins back to the early 20th century but gained significant momentum in the mid-1900s.

The first modern ESOP is credited to Louis O. Kelso, an investment banker and

2025-01-29T18:16:13-06:00Tags: , , , , , , |

The secret ingredient of business success

Too often, employees are unmotivated and unhappy, with no real incentive to invest much of anything into their place of work. Investment expert Pete Stavros thinks there’s a better way, and he’s on a mission to rethink corporate structures to expand who benefits from a thriving company. Sharing personal stories of his own journey along

2024-05-31T15:58:22-05:00Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

An Academic Perspective on Blended Finance and Impact Investing

In this podcast episode, we delve into a deep conversation about the evolution of blended finance over the years. We explore early structures such as the world’s first social impact bond in Peterborough, among others, and discuss concessional finance’s role in uplifting individuals out of poverty through

2024-04-01T05:03:38-05:00Tags: , , , |

Women in News: Lessons and Learnings 

The crucial significance of gender balance in the news media is very important. Women are under-represented in the news media all across the world. Women are oftentimes prevented from expanding their professional networks and overall career paths due to social and cultural restrictions. For instance, women don’t have the same access to mentors as men

2024-02-04T18:11:59-06:00Tags: , , , , , |

An interview with Shabd Mishra, Managing Director for Renaissance eServices Ltd and founder of Meducination

John Hoffmire: Let me quote something I read about you online, “In 2005 Shabd Mishra quit his job as Head of International Sales for a leading US information publisher to start Renaissance eServices in 2005. The business, located in the UK, spans over 52 countries and caters to nearly 2 million students globally. Since 2005, the

2024-01-04T00:39:46-06:00Tags: , , , , , , , |

An Interview with Suparna Kapoor, L&D Leader, Consultant, Happiness Coach, and Chevening CRISP Fellow, University of Oxford, 2022

John Hoffmire: I sometimes struggle with the notion of a “thought leader”.  In some cases, it just sounds presumptuous for someone to claim they can or should influence the thinking of others.  But in your case, it seems to me that you are a genuine thought leader in the best sense – you are someone

2023-12-13T06:53:27-06:00Tags: , , , , , , |

Employee ownership could be the key to solving our retirement security crisis

At a time when retirement seems out of reach for many Americans, there is clear and convincing evidence that people who work for private businesses with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (S corporation ESOPs) have far greater retirement security than the average American.

That is why when we were in Congress, we led bipartisan legislation to encourage

2023-12-07T04:26:04-06:00Tags: , , , , |

How To Make America More Affordable

For the last two years, the debate on the economy has centered around inflation.

After reaching a 40-year high last summer, inflation as measured by economists is now approaching normal levels. But despite the rapid slowdown, millions still feel squeezed by a decades-long affordability crisis.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans struggled to afford sky-high prices

2023-11-11T14:12:51-06:00Tags: , , , , , , , |

Interview with Amita Dahiya, Project Lead (Entrepreneurship) Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusive Leadership, XLRI

John Hoffmire: I’m always interested to hear how someone’s career evolves and, in some ways, changes direction. I often refer to such a career path as “following the current” as in the current of a river. It seems like your career has been a bit like that, would you agree?

Amita: Yes, I think I would agree that

2023-11-10T14:18:39-06:00Tags: , , , , , |

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022

The U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that real median household income in 2022 fell in comparison to 2021. The official poverty rate of 11.5% was not statistically different between 2021 and 2022. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate in 2022 was 12.4%, an increase of 4.6 percentage points from 2021. This is the first

2023-10-11T13:36:33-05:00Tags: , , , , , , |

Enough Of The Crumbs: We Want A Piece If The Pie

Irit Tamir, Director of Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department, has written an excellent article explaining the context for the recent and dramatic uptick in number of workers going on strike in the U.S.  In it she writes:

“Why are members of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) taking to the street as the latest workers to go

2023-11-10T13:57:48-06:00Tags: , , , , |

The Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership 2023

I’ve just returned after attending the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership and wanted to share my experiences of the event. This is the second year that the Symposium has taken place. Organised by Graeme Nuttall OBE and Professor John Hoffmire, the aim is to bring together individuals and organisations active in employee ownership from across

2023-09-01T11:26:12-05:00Tags: , , , , , , |

Personal Financial Wellness Scale™ is now available in 7 languages

The PFW Scale™ is an eight item survey, which is a reliable measurement of perceived financial distress/financial well-being. It provides the user with a score, which has been scientifically determined to be a valid and reliable measure of one’s perceived personal financial wellness, as well as measure for employees learning progress during the financial literacy

2023-08-21T03:35:16-05:00Tags: , , , , , |

De-silting Lakes and Ponds in India

Water is the basic necessity for all living organisms.  Water capacity of ponds and lakes in India has been significantly reduced due to the settling of silt at the bottom of these water bodies. This causes a water availability problem for villages, in particular.

Another problem is that many people don’t have the resources to de-silt

2023-08-06T10:44:38-05:00Tags: , , , |

Inequality and Poverty

While the steep rise of inequality in the United States is well-known, long-run data on the incomes of the richest shows countries have followed a variety of trajectories. Here are four articles, written by Joe Hasell for Our World in Data, that explore a wide range of indicators on inequality and poverty

2023-07-11T06:57:54-05:00Tags: , , , , , |

Businesses Addressing Poverty in India

India is a country with a rich cultural heritage and a fast-growing population and economy. However, it still faces a enormous challenge of poverty. According to the World Bank, in 2018, about 44.8% of India’s population lived below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day.  Those are the most up-to-fate figures since India

2023-05-13T09:18:03-05:00Tags: , , , , , , , |

Creating Sustainable Jobs: A Key to Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Breaking the cycle of poverty requires addressing the root causes of poverty and providing individuals and communities with the resources they need to build better lives. One of the most effective ways to do this is by creating sustainable jobs that provide stable employment opportunities and access to the resources needed to build assets and

2023-05-06T11:42:55-05:00Tags: , , , , |
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