{"id":5973,"date":"2017-09-02T08:18:13","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T07:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euricse.staging.hgblu.com\/?p=5973"},"modified":"2017-09-02T08:20:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T07:20:07","slug":"9th-international-workshop-on-coop-finance-and-sustainable-development-call-for-papers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euricse.eu\/en\/9th-international-workshop-on-coop-finance-and-sustainable-development-call-for-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"9\u00b0 international workshop on coop finance and sustainable development: CALL FOR PAPERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

14-15 June 2018, Trento, Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Euricse announces the organization of the 9th\u00a0Euricse International Workshop on Cooperative Finance and Sustainable Development. The workshop, organized in collaboration with the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Trento and Federcasse (Italian Federation of Cooperative Credit Banks), with the support of EACB (the European Association of Co-operative Banks), will be held in Trento, Italy on June 14th and 15th, 2018.\"CALL<\/p>\n

I. Introduction<\/strong>
\nBoth structural changes and the recent financial crisis have created a new context and new problems: some peripheral communities and sectors are confronted with a more restricted set of options, while certain sections of the population face increased difficulties to gain access to the financial system. The financing of local economies under the recovery in European economies should be regarded as a critical parameter for sustaining development along with a necessary condition for defending and\/or redefining the socioeconomic opportunities of local societies. This context has opened ample opportunities for cooperative banks: to translate and implement in a modern way the constitutive principles of the cooperative movement; to demonstrate the strength of a third way of organising economic activities, different even if not completely alternative, but complementary to the market and the State; to experiment new institutions and efficient organisation more consistent with grass-root initiatives and values; to favour competitiveness and quality of life within the territories and local societies. However, while there seems to be an increasing consensus that in most cases the cooperative banks, at least in Europe, out-performed their rivals in channelling funds to local economies, further research is needed to specify these banks\u2019 contribution, shed light on their actual performance, and specify the institutional framework better suited to unfold their full potential.<\/p>\n

Three additional challenges should be considered, particularly for the small-sized coop banks: First, the additional risks they will have to face due to the costly stricter regulatory framework and the institutional steps taken toward introducing the Eurozone Banking Union. Second, their necessity to diversify credit risk without interfering with their mission and business model. Third, given the request by regulators to scale up their capital, possibly allowing equity injections by financial investors, how can be minimized the risk that ordinary members are in some ways expropriated and\/or their coop bank is diverted from its mission in support of the local community? Therefore a cooperative bank\u2019s internal evaluation should not focus only on its capacity to make profits and surpluses, but also on the effects on the territory of its activity, conciliating business efficiency and regional efficiency.<\/p>\n

II. Research Themes<\/strong>
\nThe organizers are then inviting papers that explore the following themes:<\/p>\n

Analysis of the contribution of coop banks to the real sector and of their actual performance;
\nRegulation, competition policy and forced changes for coop banks: levelling or distorting the playing field?
\nMaking membership meaningful: revisiting the concept and procedures of retaining or re-establishing the link with local societies;
\nGovernance issues for coop banks deriving from consolidation, de-mutualization, re-mutualization and the use of hybrid structures;
\nWays to diversity the credit risk of the small coop banks without diverting them from their mission in support of local communities;
\nCooperative Banks in social finance: the current state of knowledge, best practices and future development potential deriving from coop banks\u02bc engagement in social finance to encourage sustainable development and social economy in Europe;
\nSearching for fertile ground for the diffusion of the cooperative banking model: prerequisites, socio-economic coincidence and need within and beyond the European level.<\/p>\n

III. Workshop Scientific Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n