Employee Ownership and Innovation: The Influence of Shared‐Risk Culture in U.S. Firms

ABSTRACT Employee ownership (EO) is often linked to stronger worker outcomes, yet its implications for firm innovation remain contested. Using a 2010–2020 panel of publicly traded U.S. firms, we examine whether EO is associated with higher patenting and citation‐weighted innovation, and whether EO strengthens the conversion of R&D investment into innovative output. Fixed‐effects models, interaction tests, and event‐time analyses show that EO firms exhibit higher baseline innovation and greater R&D innovation efficiency, with stronger associations when ownership‐supportive work practices are present.