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All firms are cooperatives – and so are governments

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  • Henry Hansmann

    (Yale Law Schoo)

Abstract

The emergence of social co-operatives cannot be understood without a more detailed analysis of the worldwide fast-growing interest toward social enterprise and social entrepreneurship since the mid-1990s. Much more than US-based schools of thought, a major European conception of social enterprise actually fits the co-operative tradition, and even more precisely, the “world standards of social cooperatives” as formulated by the Organization of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Co-operatives (CICOPA). Placing social co-operatives in a longer historical perspective shows that new waves and/or new types of co-operatives generally emerge in times of deep transformations of the whole economic system when some basic conditions are met.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Hansmann, 2013. "All firms are cooperatives – and so are governments," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 2(2), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:trn:csnjrn:v:2:i:2:p:1-10
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    2. Hansmann, Henry, 1988. "Ownership of the Firm," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 267-304, Fall.
    3. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2018. "Are cooperative firms a less competitive form of business? Production efficiency and financial viability of cooperative firms with tradable membership shares," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 487-502.
    2. Ville Pönkä, 2018. "The Legal Nature of Cooperative Membership," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 7(2), pages 39-61.
    3. Maria Bastida & Alberto Vaquero García & Luisa Helena Pinto & Ana Olveira Blanco, 2022. "Motivational drivers to choose worker cooperatives as an entrepreneurial alternative: evidence from Spain," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1609-1626, March.
    4. Tortia, Ermanno C., 2017. "The firm as a common. The case of the accumulation and use of capital resources in co-operative enterprises," MPRA Paper 76735, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Gaetano Cuomo, 2014. "Cooperatives and Property Rights: Hansmann’s Contribution," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 4(8), pages 34-43, August.
    6. Simone Poledrini & Florence Degavre & Ermanno Tortia, 2018. "Editorial: Background and Further Perspectives on Social Innovation in Social Enterprises," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13.
    7. Gaetano Cuomo, 2015. "Imprese cooperative e democrazia economica," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(116), pages 5-38.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperatives; nonprofit organizations; entrepreneurship; public enterprises; private enterprises; governance; firm organization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

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