The Growth of Italian Cooperatives
The Growth of Italian Cooperatives

Author: Piero Ammirato

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-04-27

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1351657607

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The Italian Cooperative Sector is amongst the largest in the world comprising over 60,000 cooperatives from all sectors of the economy directly employing 1.3 million people. Cooperatives created close to 30 percent of new jobs in Italy between 2001 and 2011 demonstrating that democratic cooperative enterprises can successfully operate in a market economy combining economic success and social responsibility. These offer a viable alternative to profit maximising enterprises and an opportunity to create a more pluralist and democratic market economy. The Growth of Italian Cooperatives: Innovation, Resilience and Social Responsibility comprehensively explains how the Italian cooperative sector has managed to compete successfully in the global economy and to grow during the global financial crisis. This book will comprehensively explain how the Italian cooperative movement has managed to grow into a large successful network of cooperatives. It will examine the legislative framework and their unique business model that allows it to compete in the market as part of a network that includes central cooperative associations, financial and economic consortia, and financial companies. It will explore cooperative entrepreneurship through a discussion of the formation of cooperative groups, start-ups, worker-buyouts and the promotion of entirely new sectors such as the social services sector. Finally, The Growth of Italian Cooperatives examines how cooperatives have managed the GFC and how their behavior differs from private enterprises. It will also analyze the extent to which cooperatives compete while still uphold the key cooperative principles and fulfil their social responsibility. This book is an interdisciplinary study of cooperative development and is designed to inform members of the academic community, government, public policy makers and cooperative managers that are primarily interested in economic democracy, economics of the cooperative enterprise, cooperative networks and economic development, cooperative legislation, democratic governance, job creation programs, politics of inclusion and how wealth can be more equitably distributed.

La Lega
La Lega

Author: Piero Ammirato

Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Group

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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This volume represents the first in-depth study in the English language of the Italian cooperative movement - the largest in Europe with over 70,000 active cooperatives. In the region of Emilia Romagna alone they produce close to 25% of the regional GDP. In particular, he examines the history, the values, the strategy, organisational structure and culture of La Lega (The National League of Cooperatives) which associates 11,000 cooperatives from all sectors employing 220,000 people and as a group of enterprises have become Italy's fourth largest export earner. It is the sheer size and success of these cooperatives that provides practical proof that there is an alternative to private enterprise capitalism namely democratic, collectively owned cooperatives.The main aim of this book is to identify the factors which have enabled cooperatives in Italy to overcome some of the economic and political barriers normally faced by them when competing in Western market economies through an analysis of the relationship that has developed between cooperatives, La Lega and the State.Topics discussed include: an historical overview of cooperative development in Europe and North America; a comparative study of the cooperative sectors in Britain and Mondragon; a discussion on the political and economic barriers faced by cooperatives; an historical analysis of cooperative development in Italy; an explanation of how La Lega operates and how it represents cooperatives' interests in the economic, political and social sphere; original case studies of cooperatives and consortia explain how financial, management and other barriers have been overcome; and, finally, an extensive discussion on the specific character of the Italian State and an explanation of why and when the State is most likely to support cooperatives.

La Cooperazione in Italia
La Cooperazione in Italia

Author: Michele Andreaus

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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In Italy, social cooperatives are an economic reality that is constantly expanding and plays an increasing role in the national economy. Social cooperatives are economic organizations of small-to-medium size that are strongly integrated into the local environment where they happen to develop. Given the need to supply crucial services, including social, educational and work integration services, social cooperatives must interact with the local authorities and communities they serve. Over the years, a number of public bodies, institutions and organisations have investigated the evolutionary pattern of social cooperatives as a specific dynamic within the Third Sector, in order to monitor their development and to assess their economic impact as well as their capacity to generate new employment at the local level. Against this backdrop, our investigation analyses the contribution that social cooperatives make to local development, in order to provide evidence of their growing importance. This analysis is part of a much wider research project conducted by the research centre Euricse, through the development of an observatory focused on cooperatives. This research aims to analyse the role of social cooperatives from both a descriptive and an economic-financial perspective. More specifically, this investigation attempts to contribute to the literature through: i) a descriptive analysis of the main features of Italian social cooperatives that have been active since 2008; ii) a description of the territorial context in which they fit; iii) an analysis of balance sheet indicators that can play a role in measuring the profitability and weight of equity of such entities, through size, regional and sectorial differentiations; and iv) an in-depth investigation of the impact of the action of social cooperatives on both the employment and the economy of a given territory. From a methodological perspective, the analysis relies on a data warehouse that was created using the AIDA dataset, integrating additional datasets provided by representative organizations (federations) and public registers.