Employee savings in financial capitalism: an unlikely regulatory mechanism.

Summary This thesis refutes the idea that employee savings can become a mechanism for regulating financial capitalism. Historically, employee savings have been part of a liberal vision. Employee savings are an instrument for making wages more flexible, which is similar to forced savings. It undermines the pay-as-you-go pension system and serves as a support for capitalization. The development of capitalization is not necessary. On the contrary, it is the result of a change in the social balance of power. The savings funds managed by the employees do not manage to emancipate themselves from the dominant logic of financial return and to constitute a sufficient constraint for companies to improve their social and environmental behaviour. Employee share ownership is rather a factor of entrenchment of managers and does not allow improving corporate governance in the sense of a better balance between stakeholders.