During the 1970s several proposals to set up employee investment funds were brought to the fore in Scandinavia. In 1984, wage earner funds were introduced in Sweden. The experiment, however, was short-lived and partly a failure. In Denmark, the debate on economic democracy is almost non-existent today, and in Norway, the funds idea never gained ground at all. The hypothesis stated in this article, is that collective strategies which include all employees, or large groups of employees, are hard to realize within a highly diversified labour market. It is also argued that pension funds can prove to be significant devices for industrial purposes and employment, and that employee ownership can imply co-optation or an enlargement of employee influence. If employees enter the capital market to a greater extent, it can also imply a new role for the trade unions.
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