They couldn't protect themselves with diversification, as an investor-shareholder would in corporate-capitalism. All their eggs would be in one basket. This could result in the firm's stagnation from lack of creativity, innovation, and willingness to take a risk.
Dahl's issue is how to extend democracy and its values, especially equality, into the workplace and thus create a better economic system. He concludes that self-governing enterprises where the workers were responsible for the success of their firms, is the answer. Because every worker would have an interest in the well-being of the firm, greater participation, harder work, and more attention to duty would be the result. Greater economic equality would lead to more harmonious relationships in the workplace and in the greater community as well. He avoids discussing the issue of social ownership. It is not clear who would actually own these enterprises. Would the public own them? Would the workers? He does mention statistical findings in which only 90 of 3,000 firms were found in which "a majority of the equity is owned by a majority of the employees" (93). Perhaps that is his idea of ownership, but it's unclear.
Although Dahl says the economic system should be efficient, he doesn't show specifically how self-governing systems would increase efficiency. He does a better job of showing an improvement in the quality of life for workers and the consequent transformation of their attitudes and values as they invested themselves in the success of their enterprises. He seems to assume that a person's work is central to the person's identity and life satisfaction,...
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