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Abstract

The United Nations (UN), with its declaration of 2012 as the

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Abstract

When Spain’s Social Economy Act was passed (Law 5/2011 of 29 March, BOE no. 76 of 30 March 2011), the country was suffering the worst consequences of the economic crisis and the government was responding with measures to combat these consequences. However, any opportunities for the social economy to help to improve the situation in the general interest that the law might have afforded have been frustrated by the total failure to implement it in the three years it has been in force.The foreseeable processes of economic and social recovery cannot be addressed without the social economy. That is why the primary task is to implement law 5/2011 and give concrete form to the measures it lays down for fostering and developing this sector and, on this basis, to plan far-reaching actions, with sufficient active participation by the sector. One such measure consists in facilitating the institutionalisation of the social economy, adopting a wide-ranging and permanent perspective. Law 5/2011 can also serve this purpose.

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Abstract

Spain is one of the few EU member states to have a Constitution that expressly mentions cooperatives as beneficiaries of a mandate for public encouragement or promotion (article 129.2). This research attempts to demonstrate that there has been more cooperative policy than cooperative law or cooperative promotion in the Spanish legal system. The main handicap in Spain’s cooperative legislation, past and present, is its marked politicisation. This has worsened since regional autonomy.The first requirement for public encouragement of cooperation, as the constitutional legislators sensed, is appropriate legislation, in two ways. Firstly, from the technical point of view, the present mosaic of cooperative laws needs to be resized. Secondly, in terms of the content of the law that is applicable to cooperatives (mainly private law and tax law), we need to regain an awareness that not every legal form can give rise to a cooperative. The cooperative form of enterprise obeys principles that are internationally established and recognised by the European Union. If an authentic cooperative is lacking, it makes no sense to have cooperative laws (national or regional, whether appropriate or otherwise) or to promote cooperatives by giving them greater or lesser tax advantages. At the same time, however, it can also be observed that the application of the state aid system to cooperative enterprises in the European Union falls into certain contradictions and has little respect for the freedom to conduct business, in its rightful sense.

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Abstract

This research analyses the composition of the boards of the 59 DNGOs that are members of the Spanish National Platform (CONGDE) and publish their directors’ CVs on their websites, as well as the effect of their particular characteristics on the board’s makeup. The characteristics of the organization influence its advisory and supervisory needs, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, its ability to attract highly committed and able directors. The results show that foundations and younger or non-religious organizations are making an effort to shape their boards optimally. In contrast, larger entities seem not to be taking advantage of their ability to attract valuable directors and are therefore wasting the opportunity to form a board which will help them to attain their organizational goals.

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Abstract

There is a growing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but even though it is true that many organizations, occupations and studies have been interested in this topic, it is not possible to conceal that in some areas there is scepticism about its application. Therefore, through this work, we aim to contribute to showing whether companies that claim to be socially responsible are in fact what they say. To this effect, we study the determining factors of CSR, attempting to examine whether the CSR behind them is formal or fundamental. One of the salient results is what is called the

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Abstract

Given their nature, cooperatives are highly likely to publish CSR reports. However, compared to commercial companies, few contributions to the subject are to be found in the literature, particularly with regard to the auditing of such reports. This study aims to contribute new knowledge on the state of the question by exploring the practices adopted by Spanish credit unions in relation to publishing and auditing CSR reports. The results show that neither the preparation of standardised CSR reports nor their auditing are very widespread. Also, when credit unions do provide CSR information they mainly publish data on social issues.

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Abstract

Despite the abundance of research which highlights the important role that innovation plays in improving business competitiveness in general, projects which specifically focus on social economy enterprises are not so common. This article defines the innovative behaviour of these businesses, in order to identify those elements which could prove advantageous to innovation. First we review the main factors affecting the phenomenon of business innovation and study their specific impact on social economy enterprises, with reference to the case of the autonomous Spanish region of Castilla y León. Then, using data from a survey of enterprises in a multivariate binary logistic regression model, we identify the factors which determine the innovative behaviour of social economy enterprises.

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Abstract

Special Employment Centres (SEC) are a benchmark of Social Enterprises in Spain. They are in the market to carry out a mainly social mission. Their behaviour and responsiveness are considered paradigmatic by the academic world and are increasingly catching the attention of researchers. The aim of this paper is to examine how the SECs make activities of a different nature compatible, some with a clear commercial focus and others with strong social value, to generate levels of economic and social impact. We propose to use a set of binary logistic regressions to measure the probability of these activities’ generating a certain level of impact.

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Abstract

For cooperative oil mills, exporting has become essential for growth and competitiveness, owing to oversupply on the home market. In this research paper we examine some of the factors that have traditionally been related to the possibility of companies selling part of their output on international markets. The results show that the manager’s training, company size and the use of information and communication technology (CIT) have a favourable influence on the export activity of Andalusian olive oil cooperatives.

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Abstract

The role of the family in the economic and social development of a country has an undeniable importance which is not confined to the functions of supplying factors to the production process and demanding goods and services. The family contributes human capital to society and is the basis of generation replacement. In OECD countries, especially those in which social policy is based on inter-generation and intra-generation solidarity, the low birth rate is becoming an almost unsurmountable obstacle to the continuity and viability of the Welfare State as we know it. Economic policy decisions should take the considerable importance of the family into account, and fiscal policy, specifically through the design of the tax system, is a powerful tool for achieving the objectives proposed in relation to this institution.