Workers’ Buyouts and Post-Transition Adjustment: Evidence from Italian Cooperatives

This study examines how workers’ buyouts (WBOs) adjust during the first five fiscal years after ownership transition. We link 55 WBOs identified by Cooperazione Finanza Impresa to company accounts for 2015–2024 and compare them with non-WBO cooperatives using an observational matched event-time panel. The estimates describe conditional post-transition differences and do not identify a causal effect of employee ownership. WBOs show lower operating profitability in the early years, followed by relative improvement whose statistical strength varies across specifications and comparison designs. Initial sales and employment growth differences cluster around the restart, with employment results sensitive to the first-year accounting window. Debt relative to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is higher in some intermediate years, while WBOs consistently hold inventories longer. Post-buyout recovery is sequential and uneven: renewed activity may precede profitability recovery, while improved operating returns may coexist with persistent working-capital needs.