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Resumen del artículo

Even if the ‘social economy’ has traditionally been marginalized and a subordinated form of production within capitalist societies, the economic, social, territorial and environmental problems of the present times have tended to make it a strategic instrument. This is not only because of its qualities as an economic and management instrument, but also because it is an expression of a dynamic and creative civil society. The aim of this paper is to show the potential of the social economy, the way it has been encapsulated during the postwar period and the conditions that now favour its full development. In the face of new challenges, the efficiency criterion, hitherto used to assess alternative forms of production, is shown to be insufficient. Some complementary criteria are proposed that in better with the new path society must follow if fundamental values have to be satisfied. Starting from these criteria and relating them to management in fields of growing social importance, a new insight into the advantages of the social economy over the market and public sectors can be obtained. Stimulated by such challenges, and connected to the new social movements, a new social economy is emerging with significant potential and a strategic role in managing society. But this development is not without serious problems, and objective and subjective conditions need first to be fulfilled.

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Resumen del artículo

The article considers different economic policies likely to affect the social economy sector as an institutional sector. In a first time it sets up an analytical framework which allows to apprehend the policies contents and offers three typologies. In the light of this framework it first makes a global evaluation of policies implemented in Europe and then focuses on Spain, one of the Union countries with the highest level of development of these policies. Finally, the author evaluates the efficiency of the main measures of economic policy applied in this country.

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Resumen del artículo

There are at least two types of companies: conventional capitalist companies or Profit Maximizing Firms (PMFs) and, on the other hand, companies managed by their workforce or Labour-Managed Firms (LMFs). The entrepreneurial structures in Spain which include this second type are worker cooperatives (cooperativas de trabajo asociado) and public or limited liability worker-owned companies (sociedades laborales). This paper describes how this type of company has evolved using a set of indicators and offers a closer look at some of the reasons which explain the current difficult situation which, as will be shown, can be considered as critical in the case of cooperatives.

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Resumen del artículo

The aim of this paper is to show the situation of the main European co-operative banking groups (or systems) through the analysis of particular aspects of their structure and the activities and services they offer, in order to compare these groups with the Spanish case to check if the different ways of dealing with these aspects agree, and under what circumstances or how they are developed. This analysis is also intended to identify the decision-making and economic linking relations set up between credit co-operatives and the centralised services structures which work within the co-operative banking groups.

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Resumen del artículo

In this paper we analyse the neo-schumpterian model of economic development applied to the economy of the Basque Country during the last few years and the three pillars that account for the development of a region following this model are rooted in the Basque economy in which there are company organizations that promote competition, financial institutions prepared to run risks and public authorities geared towards modernising and boosting the economy by means of tax incentives and other types of aid. However, we firmly believe that, apart from the three pillars established by the neo-schumpterians, another two should be added to this model: innovation and worker participation both in capital and profits and in management. Worker participation in enterprise is another factor which accounts for economic development in the Basque Country. In short, the cooperatives are a model of the integration of innovative and participative culture and commercial companies could apply certain elements of these cooperatives with a view to becoming more dynamic and more social.

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Resumen del artículo

This study deals with the most important features of European agricultural cooperatives and puts special emphasis on the business dimension as the key factor in their economic development. Cooperatives were subjected to a cluster analysis in order to classify them according to variables related to their commercial dimension, the key factor in competitiveness. They were also assessed for their main strengths and weaknesses with a view to the possibility of extending their activities to foreign markets, this being one of the main challenges they have to face in the current economic context.