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Cooperative Enterprise at Scale: Comparative Capitalisms and the Political Economy of Ownership

Jason Spicer | October, 2021

Under what conditions do cooperatively owned enterprises scale to stand alongside investor-owned firms? This article measures and attempts to explain large cooperatives’ variable prevalence across high-income capitalist democracies. Controlling for other known social, economic and geographic factors, statistical models confirm that state-mediated institutional arrangements, as operationalized through two comparative capitalism frameworks (Varieties of Capitalism and … Read More

A Comparative Analysis of Co-operative Sectors in Scotland, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland 

Johnston Birchall | November, 2009

This study compares co-operative sectors in Scotland with those of three similar sized countries: Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. The economic contribution of co-operatives in Scotland has historically been below that of these comparable European countries. The study asks why the comparator countries are so much more successful, what we can learn about how to do co-operative development, and which of the success factors are replicable in Scotland. It aims to help Co-operative Development Scotland to understand the determinants of success, make informed decisions on how to promote the co-operative sector, and advise policymakers about what works. 

Cooperative Firms in Theory and Practice 

Henry Hansmann | January, 1999

Cooperatives are not, as everyone at this conference knows, just a peripheral or incidental or anachronistic or culturally limited form of organization. Rather, they are big business of a distinctly modern type.