Cooperative production and accelerated development: A review of potential and constraints

Abstract

Producer cooperatives, or firms with extensive employee ownership and participation, are marginal to most economies, and have a mixed record at best. A number of examples suggest, however, that under the right conditions, cooperatives can make a useful contribution to regional development. This paper discusses three such cases, the Mondragon Group in Spain and the Dairy and Sugar Cooperatives of Gujerat and Maharashtra, India. It also considers the case for interventions along cooperative lines to assist in the rationalisation of industries, and presents a summary evaluation of factors which appear to be important in determining the success of cooperative endeavours.

Notes

Revised version of a paper presented to the Carnegie Conference in Cape Town, April 1984.

Development Research Department, World Bank.

The World Bank does not accept responsibility for the views expressed herein which are those of the author and should not be attributed to the World Bank or to its affiliated organizations. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the results of research supported by the Bank; they do not necessarily represent official policy of the Bank. The designations employed, the presentation of material, and any maps used in this document are solely for the convenience of the reader and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Bank or its affiliates concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its boundaries, or national affiliation.

I am indebted to George Mergos for helpful comments on an earlier draft and to Don Attwood and Roger Slade for useful discussion.