HomeResearchInternational models of cooperative and social enteprises

International models of cooperative and social enteprises

 This area focuses on research examining the efficiency and effectiveness of cooperative and social enterprise models and networks. To this end, area 5 coordinates the collection of models of social and cooperative enterprises, both from within and outside Europe; from countries experiencing varying degrees of economic development with different types of welfare systems.

The aim is to create an open access database of case studies that could be utilized for:
 
1 / comparative studies;

2 / shaping future forms of intervention; and

3 / giving policy suggestions to both national governments and international institutions, who are often quite interested in learning about concrete success stories from cooperative and social enterprises. 

 

 

 
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Project List

Cooperative models worldwide

The cooperative form is a flexible business model that over time has proven capable of adapting to a myriad of economic, cultural, and social contexts and has also been used to develop enterprises in multiple productive and service sectors.
 
Over the last three decades, new cooperative forms and networks of cooperatives have emerged in new fields (e.g. social cooperatives), demonstrating their capacity to adjust to the evolution of needs arising in society.

Social enterprises and their evolution

 

This project involves the coordination of research activities being conducted by researchers identified through dedicated ‘calls for case studies’. Specifically, the calls aim to collect case studies that follow a particular protocol, provided by Euricse, which high-lights the principle characteristics of the social enterprises being studied. The first call, launched in June 2010, concentrates on social enterprises providing work integration for disadvantaged individuals and these organizations’ contribution to social innovation. Ten case studies submitted by young researchers are currently being reviewed on the basis of how innovative they are (from a technical, product/service, or operational point of view, or with respect to their ability to build a network or by virtue of innovation from a legal or institutional standpoint).
 
ll the case studies were developed following the rigid structure provided by a pre-defined protocol, aimed at highlighting the context and history of the individual enterprises, their life-cycle, the entrepreneurial model adopted by the business, their institutional and governance structure, their relationship with outside entities (local organizations and for-profit companies), some economic data (including revenue, a categorization of the revenue streams, an analysis of the beneficiaries, the volunteers who are part of the operation), and policy aspects -how the businesses are supported and regulated, what impact they have, and whether their model can be replicated.