Empowering Consumers through Co-operatives

In a predominantly capitalist economy, in which firms are owned by shareholders who are distinct from the producers and consumers of the product and whose primary interest is in profit, how can the consumer interest be safeguarded? From a market-liberal perspective, it is enough to ensure that markets are relatively free so that consumers have a choice of product and of supplier. Because markets do not always work in the way that classical economic theory requires — because there is a danger of monopoly supply, asymmetry of information between consumers and producers, negative externalities, and so on — a range of safeguards have, in practice, had to be set up. In Britain for instance, there is a growing body of consumer law which protects consumers from the entry of dangerous or counterfeit products into the market, which regulates the conditions of sale, and enables complaint and redress (Lowe and Woodroffe, 1995).