Here’s the conclusion of a Barker-linked paper:
Corporations listed in Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” had equity returns that were 3.5% per year higher than those of their peers, indicating that employee satisfaction correlates positively with shareholder returns, says Alex Edmans of the Wharton School.
more here.
A friend of mine once told me that every single one of these ‘puff lists’ is compiled with extreme cynicism. The point is to check very carefully for potential bias by asking questions like: who has compiled this list and what companies would yield maximum benefits for this author? Are those the same companies as the ones on the list?
It doesn’t surprise me that these puffed up companies are the most profitable ones: those are the companies that are the highest value/status advertisers, affiliates and clients. Perhaps Alex Edmans is revealing bias as opposed to correlation.
Not Unreasonable 