Using household survey data from Ethiopia, this paper evaluates the impact of agricultural cooperatives on smallholders’ technical efficiency. We utilize propensity score matching to compare the average difference in technical efficiency between cooperative farmers and similar independent farmers. The approach assumes exogenous cooperative formation and similar farm technology across households. Read More
The text deals with two opposing economic visions: the financial one in which only the growth of capital matters, and the cooperative one in which finding a balance between multiple dimensions, including social and environmental ones, matters. Read More
This paper seeks, first, to measure the intensity of member relationships that connotes BCCs, highlighting their differences at the territorial and size levels and identifying their main determinants. Second, it aims to assess the role of peer monitoring on credit quality by empirically testing the effect of the degree of mutualism on the main indicators of riskiness. Read More
This paper aims to provide a brief general overview of the present state of European Union (EU) cooperative law from the perspective of harmonization of cooperative law in Europe. It also presents the author’s point of view on the possible future of both EU cooperative law and the harmonization of European national cooperative laws. Read More
This article discusses the relationship between cooperatives and their communities, one of the standard ways in which the "cooperative difference" is explained. What are the origins of this special relationship? Why and how did it receive so much attention in the 1990s, when the international cooperative movement undertook a major and sustained effort to articulate its core values and principles? Read More
The question addressed in this paper is whether the financial structure of cooperatives constitutes a badge of identity that differentiates cooperatives from other corporate legal forms such as capital-based companies.
To this end, it examines features of their financial structure that are considered typical of cooperatives in a number of documents published by international organizations. Read More
The paper aims to take an in-depth look at the "Network Contract," an innovative form of business aggregation recently introduced by the legislature, through the results of a qualitative survey conducted on a sample of about 300 companies involved in 159 network contracts. Read More
This paper contributes to the literature by carrying out the first empirical investigation into the role of different types of enterprises in the creation of social trust. Drawing on a unique dataset collected through the administration of a questionnaire to a representative sample of the population of the Italian Province of Trento in March 2011, we find that cooperatives are the only type of enterprise where the work environment fosters the social trust of workers. Read More
Among the various expressions of social innovation, the regeneration of community assets by social purpose enterprises is assuming increasing prominence.The paper aims to explore this topic in depth, analyzing the main critical junctures of regeneration processes and highlighting the convergence at the scholarly level between the definitions of social enterprise and public policy. Read More
Changing framework conditions and the changing environment bring challenges that more affluent people can face more easily than poorer ones. At these stages, cooperation with others facing similar problems may prove to be a remedy. However, pooling resources presupposes that individuals who decide to cooperate have at least small potentials and means that they can pool to build a common force. Read More
In 2008, Legacoopservizi member cooperatives approved a governance code.
This study measures the degree to which the code has been disseminated 2 years after its approval in 49 service cooperatives with a turnover of more than 25 million euros. The study focuses on the rules for admitting new members and how the board of directors is elected and composed. Read More
This paper shows how the Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa (MCC) group has managed to reconcile cooperative goals, the relationship with the local community and the necessary requirements of efficiency and competitiveness by adopting a peculiar organizational structure, in which cooperatives are grouped into sectoral divisions and coordinated by central bodies composed of the members themselves. Read More