Cooperatives and corporations: two different ways of reacting to the crisis

The objective of this report is to delve into the behavior of cooperatives compared to joint stock companies during the economic crisis, extending the analysis to 2013 and also comparing limited liability companies. Unlike previous studies, which considered only firms with at least 500 thousand euros in turnover, this work includes all firms with turnover and value added of at least one thousand euros. The sample used is significantly larger and representative of the universe of different types of enterprises.

The results confirm that cooperatives have maintained a better performance during the crisis than limited liability companies and especially joint stock companies, registering an overall growth of 24.7 percent over the 2007-2013 period, while LLCs registered a growth rate of 10.6 percent and spas a virtually zero increase.

This paper is part of the Third Euricse | 2015 report “Cooperative Economy. Relevance, evolution and new frontiers of Italian cooperation“.