According to researchers at Baylor University, employees who work at small, locally-owned businesses have the highest level of loyalty to their employees. In addition, for rural workers, size and ownership of their company figure even more into their commitment than does job satisfaction.

According to the authors of the study, titled "Small, local and loyal: How firm attributes affect workers' organizational commitment," higher levels of commitment are associated with less absenteeism, lower turnover, and less seeking of jobs outside the company. Small companies were defined as those with 1 to 49 employees.

"It's an interesting time because of the shift toward big business and globalization, but there are still practical values of small and local businesses, including benefits to the community and to the individual, such as less income inequality, less population turnover, lower crime, and more committed workers," said Katie Halbesleben of the Department of Sociology, and lead author of the study.