IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/trn/csnjrn/v1i1p21-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interpreting the Roles and Economic Importance of Cooperative Enterprises in a Historical Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Vera Negri Zamagni

    (University of Bologna)

Abstract

Cooperative enterprises have been in existence in all fields of economic activity for around 200 years, but they have tended to bunch in some sectors. This paper will examine which sectors have the most cooperatives at a world level, attempt to sketch out a typology and enquire into the reasons for this bunching. There are essentially four cooperative forms: Users cooperatives, Producers cooperatives,Workers cooperatives, and Social or community cooperatives. While workers cooperatives have received a disproportionate amount of attention from the theoretical literature, I argue that historically this has been the least successful type of cooperative and only recently has seen some revival in the service sector. The role of capital, management styles and intrinsic motivations will be considered to explain this historical evidence. The final section of the paper is devoted to drawing lessons from the historical material analyzed in the paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Vera Negri Zamagni, 2012. "Interpreting the Roles and Economic Importance of Cooperative Enterprises in a Historical Perspective," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 1(1), pages 21-36, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:trn:csnjrn:v:1:i:1:p:21-36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://jeodonline.com/jeod_articles/interpreting-the-roles-and-economic-importance-of-cooperative-enterprises-in-a-historical-perspective/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlo Borzaga, 2013. "Social enterprise," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Stefano Zamagni (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise, chapter 32, pages 318-326, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Patrizia Battilani & Vera Zamagni, 2012. "The managerial transformation of Italian co-operative enterprises 1946--2010," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(6), pages 964-985, October.
    3. Vittorio Boscia & Alessandro Carretta & Paola Schwizer (ed.), 2010. "Cooperative Banking in Europe," Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-24860-1, Decembrie.
    4. Gui,Benedetto & Sugden,Robert (ed.), 2005. "Economics and Social Interaction," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521848848.
    5. Frédérique Bataille‐Chedotel & France Huntzinger, 2004. "Faces of Governance of Production Cooperatives: An Exploratory Study of Ten French Cooperatives," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 89-111, March.
    6. Kruse, Douglas L. & Freeman, Richard B. & Blasi, Joseph R. (ed.), 2010. "Shared Capitalism at Work," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226056951.
    7. Carlo Borzaga & Sara Depedri & Ermanno Tortia, 2009. "The role of cooperative and social enterprises: A multifaceted approach for an economic pluralism," Euricse Working Papers 0900, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    8. Menzani, Tito & Zamagni, Vera, 2010. "Cooperative Networks in the Italian Economy," Enterprise & Society, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 98-127, March.
    9. Becchetti, Leonardo & Castriota, Stefano & Tortia, Ermanno, 2009. "Productivity, wages and intrinsic motivation in social enterprises," AICCON Working Papers 66-2009, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    10. Douglas L. Kruse & Richard B. Freeman & Joseph R. Blasi, 2010. "Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number krus08-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anne Musson & Damien Rousselière, 2020. "Exploring the effect of crisis on cooperatives: a Bayesian performance analysis of French craftsmen cooperatives," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(25), pages 2657-2678, May.
    2. Musson, Anne & Rousselière, Damien, 2020. "Identifying the impact of crisis on cooperative capital constraint. A short note on French craftsmen cooperatives," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    3. Mimoza Berisha Thaçi, 2017. "Are We Ready to Pilot a New Test Format for English Language Matura Exam?," European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 2, ejms_v2_i.
    4. Fabio Sabatini & Francesca Modena & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 621-641, March.
    5. Sarah Jenkins & Wil Chivers, 2022. "Can cooperatives/employee‐owned businesses improve ‘bad’ jobs? Evaluating job quality in three low‐paid sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 511-535, September.
    6. Maged Eid & Federico Mart nez-Carrasco Pleite, 2014. "International Year of Cooperatives and the 2020 Vision," Euricse Working Papers 1471, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    7. Calabrese, Giuseppe Giulio & Falavigna, Greta, 2024. "Do social cooperatives stimulate social change? An investigation on Italian firms based on DEA-Malmquist approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Tae-Hwan Kim & Hoon Hong & Jonghyun Park & Chung Sik Yoo & Jongick Jang, 2017. "Statistical Estimation of the Casual Effect of Scoial Economy on Subjective Well-Being," Working papers 2017rwp-104, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    9. Chiara Carini & Ericka Costa, 2013. "Exploring the performance of social cooperatives during the economic crisis: the Italian case," Euricse Working Papers 1359, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    10. Kotyza, P. & Tomšík, K., 2014. "Effects of Public Support on Producer Groups Establishment in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 6(2), pages 1-11, June.
    11. Franck Bailly & Karine Chapelle & Lionel Prouteau, 2017. "What are the determinants of the pay gap between conventional firms and cooperatives? Evidence from France," Working Papers hal-01455741, HAL.
    12. Marcelo Vieta, 2015. "The Italian Road to Creating Worker Cooperatives from Worker Buyouts: Italy s Worker-Recuperated Enterprises and the Legge Marcora Framework," Euricse Working Papers 1578, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vera Negri Zamagni, 2011. "The Co-operative Enterprise: A Remaining of the Past or a Proposal for a Better Society?," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 2, June.
    2. Sacchetti, Silvia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2012. "The internal and external governance of cooperatives: the effective membership and consistency of value," AICCON Working Papers 111-2012, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    3. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno C. Tortia, 2010. "A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COOPERATIVE FIRMS: Self-defined rules, common resources, motivations, and incentives," Econometica Working Papers wp21, Econometica.
    4. Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes & David Wilkinson, 2023. "Is pupil attainment higher in well-managed schools?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 129-144, January.
    5. Nicolas Aubert & Xavier Hollandts, 2015. "How Shared Capitalism Affects Employee Withdrawal: An Econometric Case Study Of A French-Listed Company," Post-Print halshs-01256759, HAL.
    6. Petri Böckerman & Alex Bryson & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2013. "Does high involvement management lead to higher pay?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(4), pages 861-885, October.
    7. Pablo Blanchard & Gabriel Burdín & Andrés Dean, 2023. "Property Rights and Effort Supply," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-01, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    8. Bryson, Alex & Clark, Andrew E. & Freeman, Richard B. & Green, Colin P., 2016. "Share capitalism and worker wellbeing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 151-158.
    9. Jaylson Jair da Silveira & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2017. "Employee Profit-sharing and Labor Extraction in a Classical Model of Distribution and Growth," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 613-635, October.
    10. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2014. "Variable Pay, Industrial Relations and Foreign Ownership: Evidence from Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 521-552, September.
    11. Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2010. "Profit sharing and the quality of relations with the boss," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 859-867, October.
    12. Samir Shrivastava & Robert Jones & Christopher Selvarajah & Bernadine Gramberg, 2016. "Organisational Justice: A Senian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 99-116, April.
    13. FitzRoy, Felix & Nolan, Michael A., 2020. "Towards Economic Democracy and Social Justice: Profit Sharing, Co-Determination, and Employee Ownership," IZA Discussion Papers 13238, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Alex Bryson & Richard B. Freeman, 2010. "To join or not to join? Factors influencing employee share plan membership in a multinational corporation," Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory & Labor-Managed Firms, in: Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory & Labor-Managed Firms, pages 1-22, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    15. Kyoung Yong Kim & Pankaj C. Patel, 2021. "A Multilevel Contingency Model of Employee Ownership and Firm Productivity: The Moderating Roles of Industry Growth and Instability," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 625-648, May.
    16. Uwe Jirjahn & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2019. "Performance Pay and Applicant Screening," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 540-575, September.
    17. Sarah Jenkins & Wil Chivers, 2022. "Can cooperatives/employee‐owned businesses improve ‘bad’ jobs? Evaluating job quality in three low‐paid sectors," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 511-535, September.
    18. Marta Troya-Martinez & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2023. "Managing Relational Contracts," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 941-986.
    19. Nicolas Aubert & Hachmi Ben Ameur & Guillaume Garnotel & Jean‐Luc Prigent, 2018. "Optimal Employee Ownership Contracts Under Ambiguity Aversion," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 238-251, January.
    20. Guillermo Alves & Gabriel Burdin & Paula Carrasco & Andrés Dean & Andrés Rius, 2012. "Empleo, remuneraciones e inversión en cooperativas de trabajadores y empresas convencionales: nueva evidencia para Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 12-14, Instituto de Economía - IECON.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cooperative enterprises; worker cooperatives; users cooperatives; instrinsic motivations; historical evidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N60 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N80 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:trn:csnjrn:v:1:i:1:p:21-36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Barbara Franchini (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/euricit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.