ABSTRACT
As our historical introduction has shown, interest in profit-sharing is not a new phenomenon. The current enthusiasm can be related very directly to legislative encouragement, beginning with the 1978 Finance Act under the Lib-Lab pact and accelerating under the Conservative governments since 1979. The Conservatives have eased some of the restrictive rules for ADST schemes, introduced tax incentives for SAYE share option schemes under the 1980 Finance Act, and encouraged the spread of discretionary schemes under the 1984 Finance Act. In view of the significance of the legislative underpinning of profit-sharing and the support it has attracted from all the major political parties at various stages, it is necessary to examine the underlying philosophy of each party. First we review briefly the legislation and its impact. Details of the schemes under consideration are to be found in Appendix 1.
