Going collective: Italian worker takeovers

The research investigates the praxis of companies going collective in Italy. Since the 1950s, scholars have debated the whys and hows of labour-manged firms around the globe. Such a debate articulates around the central question of this research domain: Why are labour-manged firms rare compared to traditional, investor-owned companies? To offer possible explanations for such a scarcity, this research analyses mechanisms, rationales and resources underneath the emergence of worker takeovers, namely labour-managed firms. Empirical evidence on the emergence of labour-managed firms and, specifically, worker takeovers is limited. At the scholarly level, there is little evidence on the praxis of creating labour-manged firms and turning companies collective in the form of worker takeovers. Little is known about who leads and guides worker takeover operations, little is known about which resources are employed, which pieces of legislation are leveraged and who is co-opted in the governance of novel labour-manged firms. This research offers exploratory insights into the whys, hows, who and when of going collective in Italy. Specifically, it delves into the norms, steps, procedures, resources and stakeholders of takeover operations in the country. Via critical approaches and a mix of methodologies, this research aims at unfolding the functioning of takeover strategies, and the relationship of workers with institutional investors, banks and trade unions, among many different stakeholders.