This paper examines the response of older workers to an employee ownership alternative when A&P shut down all supermarkets in one geographic area of the United States. Older workers lost more benefits and were more dissatisfied with the contract negotiations that resulted in employee ownership but this dissatisfaction was not related to willingness to pledge money to become an employee owner. Older workers who were not old enough to retire, who were willing to take risks, and who believed in entrpreneurism were most likely to want to become employee owners, but, in general, employee ownership does not appear to be a particularly desirable solution to problems of unemployment among older workers.
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