Transitioning to Property-Owning Democracy in Serbia

The policy brief provides a normative and practical examination of economic injustice. It begins with the problem of justification of economic inequality, focusing on two accounts on distributive justice: the responsibility-sensitive approach and the opportunity-sensitive approach. The analysis reveals how contemporary ownership structure violates both accounts on distributive justice. As a vision of a just economy, the policy brief argues for a property-owning democracy, understood as a combination of economic democracy and coupon capitalism. It suggests employee buyouts of companies as a viable pathway towards property-owning democracy. Using Serbia’s economy as a case study, where small and medium enterprises face imminent succession crises, the analysis demonstrates how employee ownership can simultaneously solve business succession challenge while advancing economic democracy. In conclusion, the required legal and fiscal reforms for the introduction of the European Employee Stock Ownership Plan in Serbia are spelt out