Happiness or trouble? Employee stock ownership plans and employee well-being in new ventures

There is a much lively debate about whether new ventures should adopt employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). The inconsistent findings may be due to the neglect of employees' life quality. This paper analyzed the relationship between ESOPs and employee workplace-psychology-life well-being and the moderating effect of opportunity-enhancing human resource practices (OHRPs). It adopted a survey that was completed by 262 employees of new ventures in the Greater Bay Area of China. The results show that ESOPs had a positive effect on the workplace and psychological well-being, but a negative effect on life well-being, and that this effect was mediated by psychological ownership. OHRPs moderated the mediating effect of ESOPs on workplace and life well-being via psychological ownership. The results reveal a particular correlation pattern between new venture ESOPs and employee well-being, which helps address the debate about the effects of ESOPs by providing an explanation from the life aspect. These findings highlight the importance of considering employee life well-being in understanding new venture ESOPs.