New evolutions and regulation of worker cooperatives

Project status: concluded

Description

The participation of employees in the decision-making process of the organization in which they work is a topic of signifcant interest across enterprise types. This participation is greatest in worker cooperatives, where when the employees become members/owners of the organization. Employees come to cover both the role of resources for the organizations (since they are at the center of the production process) and managers of the business.

In Italy, the role of the members of worker cooperatives is regulated by law 142/2001.

The research project – which responded to a specific inquiry by Confcooperative – had the aim to analyze from a scientific standpoint the implications of Law 142 on worker cooperatives, looking at the conditions for efficient and effective cooperative management.

In addition to an in depth analysis of the law and of its operational implications for worker cooperatives, the research analyzed from an economic point of view the correlation between management and membership, the relationship of worker cooperatives with the market and their interactions with public procurement, managerial strategies, and other related issues.

Objectives

The project’s main objective was to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Italian worker cooperatives in light of the current context and most recent challenges. Taking into consideration the sectors in which these organizations work and their governance structure, another specific objective was to evaluate the characteristics of these organizations and the adequacy of Italian regulations of worker-members to encourage their development and the development of new worker cooperatives. To respond to these objectives, the project analyzed the regulations on worker-members (Law 142/2001), in order to understand whether the current regulations are helpful to the creation and development of worker cooperatives or not. It then sought to understand the additional challenges linked both to the structuring of the governance and to the management of the organization, touching on themes like the distribution of power, start-ups, contract management, innovation, etc.

Main results

During 2014, the research led to an initial analysis of governance models adopted by production and worker cooperatives and to an investigation of workplace relationships, thanks to a specific investigation into Law 142/2001. This also allowed for a clarification of the legal elements that regulate  worker cooperatives and an observation of the limits of the current legal framework from a theoretical point of view. The collection of data through the compilation of questionnaires by 44 cooperatives around Italy and supplementary structured interviews with 30 of them highlighted the different perceptions of worker cooperatives on what  the strengths and critical issues of the law are. Some cooperatives judge the law very positively, primarily for having clarified and better protected the position of the worker-member, and have not had difficulties in respecting the imposed constraints. Other cooperatives have found that the law hinders their flexibility, particularly due to compliance with national negotiations, the difficulty of managing workplace relationships and the cost of work.

Publications

Internal report

This project is part of the line of research into New cooperative forms and new roles for cooperation in the Italian and international context.

Over the years, cooperative and social enterprises have taken on different roles and forms, and interest in the potential of these entrepreneurial forms is increasing, especially in regards to certain sectors (such as social services and general interest) and the ability to tackle employment problems and competitiveness in SMEs in particular.

These new forms of enterprise are, however, often defined in an approximate way, partly due to a lack of specific regulation. The development of research aimed at understanding emerging cooperative and social entrepreneurship forms is therefore of particular relevance.

The other research projects carried out by Euricse, in reference primarily to the Italian and European context, are:

Social and community enterprises and cooperatives;
New production and worker cooperatives and the employee buyout phenomenon;
The evolution of the role of agricultural cooperatives.

Partners 

University of Trento

University of Molise

Federlavoro e Servizi

Confcooperative