Worker cooperative

Summary

A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by every worker-owner who each have one vote. History Worker cooperatives rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution as part of the labour movement. As employment moved to industrial areas and job sectors declined, workers began organizing and controlling businesses for themselves. Worker cooperatives were originally sparked by "critical reaction to industrial capitalism and the excesses of the industrial revolution." Some worker cooperatives were designed to "cope with the evils of unbridled capitalism and the insecurities of wage labor". The philosophy that underpinned the cooperative movement stemmed from the socialist writings of thinkers including Robert Owen and Charles Fourier. Robert Owen, considere

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (7)

Related publications

Related people (1)

Related people

Related units

Related concepts (20)

Related concepts

Related courses (2)

Related courses

Related lectures (2)

Related lectures

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, it aims at investigating how cooperatives organizational dimensions affect its strategic positioning; and second, how producer cooperatives influence the competitive dynamics of the markets where they compete. In order to answer these questions, I will focus on the Sao Miguel’s dairy market (Portuguese island) where producer cooperatives and private firms compete side-by-side. This paper follows a single case study qualitative analysis. The main data sources are the local newspapers articles (322 articles that covers 2010- 2012), and interviews with the market players (31 interviews). The results reveal that producer cooperatives tend to adopt cost leadership strategies, which naturally aligns with their historical roots and organisational purposes. Additionally, the paper stands that producer cooperatives are able to drive factor market competition activity in markets where there are severe asymmetries of power.

2016

Producer cooperatives influence on competitive dynamics: the Azorean case

Joana Rodrigues Pereira

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, I aim at understanding how producer cooperatives compete in the factor markets; and second, I analyse how producer cooperatives influence the competitive dynamics of the markets where they compete. With this paper we aim at bringing a strategic perspective of this phenomenon. This paper follows a single case study qualitative analysis. The empirical context is the dairy market of the Azorean island Sao Miguel (in Portugal), more specifically, the milk factor market. This empirical context is adequate for the following reasons: first, because it is possible to isolate the market and its players in a quasi-experimental fashion (because it is a island); second, it presents a stable cooperative tradition; and third, cooperatives compete side-by-side with private firms (the cooperative Union represent 50% of the factor dairy market and the 3 other private firms represent the remaining 50%). The main data sources were local newspaper articles (322 in total) and interviews (31 in total with all market players). The data was coded in different categories, such as players’ characteristics, strategic positioning, strategic moves, and context/external shocks. The results reveal that on the factor market side, as buyer, the cooperative presents a “proudly first” positioning. This buyer positioning reflects the effort of the cooperative to always set the higher price and the best conditions on the factor market. This positioning contrasts with other private players that have adopted “Please stay” and “I don’t care” positioning. The results have also point out that the increase of the cooperative market share in the factor market, is leading to increased market competition. There is evidence that the cooperative is driving up the total number of strategic moves in the market that were predominantly oriented to price increases. On the theoretical part, some interesting inputs emerged on the concept of buyers strategic positioning. The results also challenge competitive dynamics studies, which defend that when the concentration in the market increases, the competitive activity decreases. Surprisingly, I have observed the opposite effect and I argue that is due to the cooperative influence. Additionally, the paper defends that producer cooperatives are able to drive factor market competition in markets where there are severe asymmetries of power. Such studies can increase our knowledge about the local impact of cooperatives and the circumstances under which cooperatives are an efficient alternative to the public and private sectors.

2016

This paper aims at understanding whether producer cooperatives are efficient organisational forms, through the lenses of Transaction Cost Economics. To accomplish this goal I will answer the questions what is a cooperative, why do cooperatives exist, which transactions should producer cooperatives govern, how are they internally organised, and where are the boundaries. This paper offers a comprehensive framework to study producer cooperatives, adopting a comparative institutional point of view, where producer cooperatives are compared with markets, firms and other hybrid types.

2014

Producer cooperatives influence on competitive dynamics: the Azorean case

Joana Rodrigues Pereira

2016