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Encyclopedia > Membership organization

A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an association of persons who join together to carry on an economic activity of mutual benefit, in an egalitarian fashion.


The term may be used loosely to signify its members' ideology (as in 'jazz coop') but a mainstream cooperative comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. It thus combines the equal control characteristic of many partnerships with the legal personality conferred on corporations. Membership is open, meaning that anyone who satisfies certain non-discriminatory conditions may join. Unlike a union, in some jurisdictions a cooperative may assign different numbers of votes to different members. However most cooperatives are governed on a strict "one member, one vote" basis, to avoid the concentration of control in an elite. Economic benefits are distributed proportionally according to each member's level of economic interest in the cooperative, for instance by a dividend on sales or purchases. Cooperatives may be generally classified as either consumer or producer cooperatives, depending largely on their membership. Classification is also often based on their function or trade sector. A legal entity is a legal construct through which the law allows a group of natural persons to act as if they were an individual for certain purposes. ... In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ... A union is a legal entity that, unlike a corporation, is governed democratically with one vote per member. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology Ideologies... In terms of a co-operative this means how much the services of the co-op are used. ...


In the United States most cooperatives are corporations or limited liability companies (LLCs) but other legal entities may also be used. Cooperatives may be for-profit or non-profit. A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ... A Limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC) is a type of legal entity which has only relatively recently been made possible to establish in the United States and many other, mainly anglophone, countries. ...


In the United Kingdom the traditional corporate form taken by cooperatives is the 'bona fide co-operative' under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts. Since the 1980s, however, many have incorporated under the Companies Acts, limited either by shares or by guarantee. In a bid for sustainability, many cooperatives adopt the principle of 'common ownership', and have a zero or nominal share capital, along with a clause stipulating altruistic dissolution. This means that the cooperative cannot be wound up and its assets distributed for personal profit (see: asset stripping). The facility to legally 'lock' a cooperative's assets in this way was brought into force in 2004. An Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) is a legal entity for a trading business in the United Kingdom. ... A Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) is a private company that does not have shareholders or share capital. ... Common ownership is a principle according to which the assets of an enterprise or other organisation are held indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members. ... Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ... Asset Stripping is the practice of buying a company in order to sell its assets individually at a profit. ...


In the European Union, the European Cooperative Statute will come into force in October 2006, to provide a corporate form for cooperatives with individual or corporate members in at least two of the EU member states. The Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company of the European Union (adopted October 8, 2001; OJ L 294, 10/11/2001, pp. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... EU member states and candidates There are currently 25 member states in the European Union. ...


Worldwide, some 800 million people are members of cooperatives, and it is estimated that cooperatives employ some 100 million people. The cooperative movement often has links and associations with Green politics or Socialist politics, with socially responsible investing, and with the social enterprise movement. Green politics is a body of political ideas informed by environmentalism aimed at developing a sustainable society. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... Socially responsible investing, often abbreviated to SRI, is an umbrella term for a philosophy of investing by both financial and social criteria. ... Bold textSocial Enterprise is a relatively new term for a type of business that has been in existence for at least a century. ...

Contents


Types of cooperatives

Housing cooperative

A housing cooperative is a legal mechanism for ownership of housing where residents either own shares (share capital co-op) or have membership and occupancy rights in a not-for-profit continuing co-operative (non-share capital co-op). This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...


Retailers' cooperative

Walton Street Co-op Swift Shop, Oxford, an outlet of a retailers' cooperative.
Walton Street Co-op Swift Shop, Oxford, an outlet of a retailers' cooperative.

A retailers' cooperative (often known as a secondary or marketing co-operative in the UK) is an organization which employs economies of scale on behalf of its members to get discounts from manufacturers and to pool marketing. It is common for locally-owned grocery stores, hardware stores and pharmacies. In this case the members of the cooperative are businesses rather than individuals. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 521 KB) Walton Street Co-op Swift Shop, Oxford, 2005-07-03. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 521 KB) Walton Street Co-op Swift Shop, Oxford, 2005-07-03. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... A retailers cooperative or consumer cooperative is a business entity which employs economies of scale on behalf of its members to get discounts from manufacturers and to pool marketing. ... ... Exterior appearance of typical supermarket (Safeway Inc. ... A hardware store sells hardware: for instance fasteners, keys, locks, hinges, wire, chains, plumbing supples, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. ... the Caduceus Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον = drug) is the profession of compounding and dispensing medication. ...


The well-known Best Western hotel chain is actually a giant cooperative, although it now prefers to call itself a "nonprofit membership association." It gave up on the "cooperative" label after the courts kept insisting on calling it a franchisor despite its nonprofit status. Best Western is the largest hotel chain in the world, with nearly 4,000 hotels in nearly 80 countries. ... This article or section should include material from Franchise agreement Franchising - from the French for Free, is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring royalty fee. ...


Utility cooperative

A utility cooperative is a public utility that is owned by its customers. It is a type of consumer cooperative). In the US, many such cooperatives were formed to provide rural electrical and telephone service as part of the New Deal. See Rural Utilities Service. A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity or telecommunications to its members. ... A public utility is a company that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. ... A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an association of persons who join together to carry on an economic activity of mutual benefit, in an egalitarian fashion. ... The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelts legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. ... The Rural Utilities Service, formerly the Rural Electrification Administration is charged with providing utilities (electricity, telephone, water, sewer, etc. ...


Worker cooperative

A worker cooperative is a cooperative that is wholly owned and democratically controlled by its "worker-owners". There are no outside, or consumer owners, in a worker's cooperative - only the workers own shares of the business. Membership is not compulsory for employees, and only employees can become members. Probably the best known example of worker co-operation is the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) in the Basque Country. A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and operated by its worker-owners. There are no outside, or consumer owners, in a workers cooperative - only the workers own shares of the business. ... Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) is a group of manufacturing and retail companies based in the Basque Country and extended over the rest of Spain and abroad. ...


Unions are often unnecessary in worker cooperatives because the workers have direct control over the management and ownership of the business - they are negotiating with themselves. Some worker cooperatives still choose to become members of local unions to demonstrate their support for the labor movement and to working conditions that have resulted from years of struggle. Worker cooperatives that join unions often benefit from the trade that comes their way from the community of union members and those who support unions for political reasons.


The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives is the organization in the US representing worker cooperative interests nationally. There are local networks and federations throughout the US in the San Fransisco Bay area, the Twin Cities, Portland Oregon, and Boston.


The 'new wave' of worker cooperatives that took off in Britain in the mid-70s created the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM) as their federation. The sector peaked at around 2,000 enterprises, and in 2001 ICOM merged with the Co-operative Union (which was the federal body for consumer cooperatives) to create Co-operatives UK, thus reunifying the cooperative sector.


There are examples of "hybrid" co-ops in which workers and consumers both have membership in a co-op, but the types of membership are differentiated, sometimes into districts of the cooperative, often each district having a set amount of decision making power and profit distribution. Hybrid co-ops are also referred to as multi-stakeholder cooperatives.


Social cooperative

A particularly successful form of multi-stakeholder cooperative is the Italian "social cooperative", of which some 7,000 exist. A "type A" social cooperative brings together providers and beneficiaries of a social service as members. A "type B" social cooperative brings together permanent workers and previously unemployed people who wish to integrate into the labour market.


Social co-operatives are legally defined as follows:

  • the objective is the general benefit of the community and the social integration of citizens
  • type A co-operatives provide health, social or educational services
  • those of type B integrate disadvantaged people into the labour market. The categories of disadvantage they target may include physical and mental disability, drug and alcohol addiction, developmental disorders and problems with the law. They do not include other factors of disadvantage such as race, sexual orientation or abuse
  • various categories of stakeholder may become members, including paid employees, beneficiaries, volunteers (up to 50% of members), financial investors and public institutions. In type B co-operatives at least 30% of the members must be from the disadvantaged target groups
  • the co-operative has legal personality and limited liability
  • voting is one person one vote
  • no more than 80% of profits may be distributed, interest is limited to the bond rate and dissolution is altruistic (assets may not be distributed)

A good estimate of the current size of the social co-operative sector in Italy is given by updating the official ISTAT figures from the end of 2001 by an annual growth rate of 10% (assumed by the Direzione Generale per gli Ente Cooperativi). This gives totals of 7,100 social co-operatives, with 267,000 members, 223,000 paid employees, 31,000 volunteers and 24,000 disadvantaged people undergoing integration. Combined turnover is around 5 billion euro. The co-operatives break into three types: 59% type A (social and health services), 33% type B (work integration) and 8% mixed. The average size is 30 workers.

A supermarket run by a consumer cooperative in the port of Leith, Edinburgh.
A supermarket run by a consumer cooperative in the port of Leith, Edinburgh.

Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 593 KB)Scotmid retailers cooperative in the port of Leith, Edinburgh, 2004-11. ... Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 593 KB)Scotmid retailers cooperative in the port of Leith, Edinburgh, 2004-11. ... Former Royal Yacht Britannia is permanently moored at Leith harbour. ... Edinburghs location in Scotland Edinburgh viewed from Arthurs Seat. ...

Consumers' cooperative

The term cooperative also applies to businesses owned by their customers. Employees can also generally become members. Members vote on major decisions, and elect the board of directors from amongst their own number. A well known example in the US is the REI (Recreational Equipment Incorporated) co-op. R.E.I. (Recreational Equipment Inc. ...


One of the world's largest consumer co-operatives is the Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom, which has a variety of retail and financial services. In reality the Co-operative Group is actually something of a hybrid, having both corporate (other cooperative businesses) and individual members. The Co-operative Group is a United Kingdom consumer co-operative, one of the largest consumer-owned businesses in the world. ...


Japan has a very large and well developed consumer co-operative movement with over 14 million members; retail co-ops alone had a combined turnover of 2,519 billion yen (24,189 thousand US Dollars) in 2003/4. (Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union., 2003). As well as retail co-ops there are medical, housing, insurance co-ops alongside institutional (workplace based) co-ops, co-ops for school teachers and university based co-ops.


Around 1 in 5 of all Japanese households belongs to a local retail co-op and 90% of all co-op members are women. (Takamura, 1995). Nearly 6 million households belong to one of the 1,788,000 Han groups (Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union., 2003). These consist of a group five to ten members in a neighbourhood who place a combined weekly order which is then delivered by truck the following week. A particular stength of Japanese consumer co-ops in recent years has been the growth of community supported agriculture where fresh produce is sent direct to consumers from producers without going through the market.


Agricultural cooperative

In the US

Farmers' grain Co-op in Crowell, TX.
Farmers' grain Co-op in Crowell, TX.

Farmers often maintain marketing cooperatives, some of which are government-sponsored, which promote and may actually distribute specific commodities. Examples include: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 422 KB) Grain Co-op, Crowell, TX -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 422 KB) Grain Co-op, Crowell, TX -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

In California and other states where it is legal, medical marijuana is generally produced by cooperatives. Cotton Incorporated aims To increase the demand for and profitability of cotton through research and promotion. ... Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the process of reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. ... Meat is animal tissue (mainly muscle) used as food. ... Floridas Natural Growers is an agricultural cooperative founded in 1933 as Florida Citrus Canners Cooperative and now owned by over 1,100 grower members. ... This article is about the growers cooperative, for the Florida town, see Land O Lakes, Florida Land OLakes is a national agricultural cooperative based in Arden Hills, Minnesota focusing on the dairy industry. ... Dairy farm near Oxford, New York, July 2001 In many northern-hemisphere countries a dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffaloes, sheep or goats) for human consumption. ... Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative of growers of cranberries and grapefruit headquartered in Lakeville, Massachusetts. ... Species Vaccinium macrocarpon Vaccinium microcarpum Vaccinium oxycoccus The cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccus, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccus. ... Sunkist Growers, Incorporated is a citrus growers non-stock membership cooperative comprised of 6000 members from California and Arizona. ... Species & major hybrids Species Citrus maxima - Pomelo Citrus medica - Citron Citrus reticulata - Mandarin & Tangerine Major hybrids Citrus x aurantifolia - Key lime Citrus x aurantium Citrus x hystrix - Kaffir Lime Citrus x ichangensis - Ichang Lemon Citrus x limetta Citrus x limon - Lemon Citrus x limonia - Rangpur Citrus x paradisi - Grapefruit Citrus... Sun-Maid is a cooperative of raisin growers headquartered in Kingsburg, California. ... Raisins are dried grapes. ... The Tillamook County Creamery Association is a dairy co-operative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon. ... Dairy farm near Oxford, New York, July 2001 In many northern-hemisphere countries a dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffaloes, sheep or goats) for human consumption. ... KRVN 880 AM is a commercial broadcast station licensed to Lexington, Nebraska. ... State nickname: Cornhusker State Other U.S. States Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Governor Dave Heineman (R) Senators Chuck Hagel (R) Ben Nelson (D) Official languages English Area 200,520 km² (16th)  - Land 199,099 km²  - Water 1,247 km² (0. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Cannabis sativa extract. ...


In other parts of the world

There are strong agricultural / agribusiness cooperatives, and agricultural cooperative banks, in most European countries.


Most emerging countries are experiencing a significant development of agricultural cooperatives, an economic sector prone to cooperation either for export or for local needs. Ex. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.


Cooperative banking (Credit unions and Cooperative savings banks)

Credit Unions provide a form of cooperative banking. In North America, the caisse populaire movement started by Alphonse Desjardins in Quebec, Canada pioneered credit unions. Desjardins wanted to bring desperately needed financial protection to working people. In 1900, from his home in Lévis, Quebec, he opened North America's first credit union, marking the beginning of the Mouvement Desjardins. A credit union is a co-operative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members, generally through the election of a Board of Directors. ... World map showing North America (geographically) A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by... For the 19th-century former mayor of Montreal, see Alphonse Desjardins (politician) Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins (November 5, 1854 _ October 30, 1920) was born in Lévis, Quebec. ... Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. ... Lévis (officially Ville de Lévis) is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. ... The Mouvement Desjardins (Desjardins Movement or Desjardins Group in English) is the largest association of credit unions in North America. ...


While they have not taken root so deeply as in Ireland, credit unions are also established in the UK. The largest are work-based, but many are now offering services in the wider community. The Association of British Credit Unions Ltd - ABCUL - represents the majority of British Credit Unions.


Important European banking cooperatives include the Crédit Agricole in France, Migros and Coop Bank in Switzerland and the Raiffeisen system in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Spain, Italy and various European countries also have strong cooperative banks. They play an important part in mortgage credit and professional (i.e. farming) credit. Cooperative banking networks, which were nationalized in Eastern Europe, work now as real cooperative institutions. A remarkable development has taken place in Poland, where the SKOK (spóldzielcze kasy oszczednosciowo-kredytowe) network has grown to serve over 1 million members via 13,000 branches, and is larger than the country’s largest conventional bank. Crédit Agricole is the largest banking group in France and in Europe and is the fourth largest in the world. ... Migros (IPA: /ˈmiÉ¡ro/) is one of Switzerlands largest companies. ... Raiffeisen is an international bank based and founded in Austria as Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich (RZB) in 1927. ...


Car sharing

Car sharing is a process by which multiple households share vehicles, which are stored in convenient common locations. It may be thought of as a very short-term, locally-based car hire. It is most prevalent in Switzerland (where the Mobility Car-Sharing cooperative has some 50,000 clients), but is also common in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, and is growing in popularity in other European countries. Car sharing operations may be for-profit or non-profit organizations. Zipcar and Flexcar are examples. Car sharing is a system where a fleet of cars (or other vehicles) is owned by a company or cooperative, which are available for use by members of the car share. ... Zipcar is a for-profit membership organization providing automobiles to members, billed by the hour or day. ... Flexcar is a for-profit car sharing company, the oldest and second-largest (behind Boston-based Zipcar) in the United States. ...


To reduce confusion with ride-sharing, some Britons prefer the term 'car clubs'.


History of the co-operative movement

Robert Owen (1771-1858) fathered the cooperative movement. A Welshman who made his fortune in the cotton trade, Owen believed in putting his workers in a good environment with access to education for themselves and their children. These ideas were put into effect successfully in the cotton mills of New Lanark, Scotland. It was here that the first co-operative store was opened. Spurred on by the success of this, he had the idea of forming "villages of co-operation" where workers would drag themselves out of poverty by growing their own food, making their own clothes and ultimately becoming self-governing. He tried to form such communities in Orbiston in Scotland and in New Harmony, Indiana in the United States of America, but both communities failed. Robert Owen Robert Owen continues to be looked up to in this Manchester statue Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh social reformer. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The cotton mill is a type of factory that was created to house spinning and weaving machinery. ... The New Lanark mills were founded in 1784 next to the town of Lanark, and purchased in the early 19th century by a partnership that included Robert Owen. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin: No one provokes me with impunity) (Scots: Wha daur meddle wi me) Scotlands location within the UK Languages with Official Status1 English Gaelic Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... New Harmony is a town located in Posey County, Indiana. ...


Although Owen inspired the co-operative movement, others--such as Dr. William King (1786-1865)--took his ideas and made them more workable and practical. King believed in starting small, and realized that the working classes would need to set up co-operatives for themselves, so he saw his role as one of instruction. He founded a monthly periodical called The Cooperator, the first edition of which appeared on May 1, 1828. This gave a mixture of co-operative philosophy and practical advice about running a shop using cooperative principles. King advised people not to cut themselves off from society, but rather to form a society within a society, and to start with a shop because, "We must go to a shop every day to buy food and necessaries - why then should we not go to our own shop?" He proposed sensible rules, such as having a weekly account audit, having 3 trustees, and not having meetings in pubs (to avoid the temptation of drinking profits). A few poor weavers joined together to form the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society at the end of 1843. The Rochdale Pioneers, as they became known, set out the Rochdale Principles in 1844, which form the basis of the cooperative movement today. Dr. William King (1786-1865) was a British physician and philantropist from Brighton. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For the song by the California punk band Pennywise, see Society (song). ... An amusingly named pub (the Old New Inn) at Bourton-on-the-Water, in the Cotswold Hills of South West England A pub in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh, Scotland A public house, usually known as a pub, is a drinking establishment found mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. ... 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...


Co-operative communities are now widespread, with one of the largest and most successful examples being at Mondragón in the Basque country of Spain (see link below). Co-operatives were also successful in Yugoslavia under Tito where Workers Councils gained a significant role in management. Mondragon is also the name of a commune of the Vaucluse département, in southern France. ... Capital Vitoria-Gasteiz Official languages Basque and Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 14th  7 234 km²  1,4% Population  â€“ Total (2003)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 7th  2 108 281  5,0%  291,44/km² Demonym  â€“ English  â€“ Basque  â€“ Spanish  Basque  euskal herritar, euskaldun  vasco/a, vascongado/a GDP GDP/C... The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the end of World War II to the Yugoslav wars. ... Marshal Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito   listen? (May 7, 1892 – May 4, 1980) was the leader of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ... A workers council is a council, or deliberative body, composed of working class or proletarian members. ...


In many European countries, cooperative institutions have a predominant market share in the retail banking and insurance businesses. For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. ...

An annual general meeting of a retail co-operative in England, 2005.
Enlarge
An annual general meeting of a retail co-operative in England, 2005.

In the UK, co-operatives formed the Co-operative Party in the early 20th century to represent members of co-ops in Parliament. The Co-operative Party now has a permanent electoral pact with the Labour Party, and some Labour MPs are Co-operative Party members. UK co-operatives retain a significant market share in food retail, insurance, banking, funeral services, and the travel industry in many parts of the country. Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 435 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 435 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article is about the British political party. ... The Labour Party is the principal centrist/centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... See also Cooperative Supermarkets in the United Kingdom External link The Co-operative Group Categories: Corporation stubs | British supermarkets | Cooperatives ...


See also

Crédit Agricole is the largest banking group in France and in Europe and is the fourth largest in the world. ... A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project(s) to achieve a common objective. ... Common ownership is a principle according to which the assets of an enterprise or other organisation are held indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members. ... A commune or comune is a system of social and economic organization which involves the common ownership of resources and/or shared obligations. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Employee-owned corporations (ESOPs, or EMployee Stock Ownership Programs) are generally a model of ownership of a corporation where the corporation is owned by the employees who work for it. ... A friendly society (sometimes called a mutual society, benevolent society or fraternal organization) is a mutual association for insurance-like purposes, and often, especially in the past, serving ceremonial and friendship purposes also. ... An Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) is a legal entity for a trading business in the United Kingdom. ... Microcredit is the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. ... Migros (IPA: /ˈmiɡro/) is one of Switzerlands largest companies. ... A mutual fund (aka managed fund) enables investors to pool their money and place it under professional investment management. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (May 3, 1818, Hamm - May 11, 1888, Heddesdorf, currently known as Neuwied, Germany) was a German cooperative leader. ... The former location of Rochdale College on Bloor Street in Toronto. ... Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) is a group of manufacturing and retail companies based in the Basque Country and extended over the rest of Spain and abroad. ... The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is an association of cooperatives, started in 1968. ... Bold textSocial Enterprise is a relatively new term for a type of business that has been in existence for at least a century. ... Waterloo Co-operative Residence Incorporated, also known as WCRI, is a non-profit student housing co-operative located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ...

References

Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (2003). "co.op, 2003 Facts and Figures"


Isao Takamura (1995). "Japan: Consumer Co-op Movement in Japan"


External links

.coop is a generic top-level domain intended for the use of cooperatives. ...

Further reading


George Jacob Holyoake ( April 13, 1817 - 1906), English secularist and co-operator, was born at Birmingham. ...

Other meanings

In biochemistry, a macromolecule that exhibits cooperative behavior has ligand binding characteristics that depend on the amount of ligand bound. See cooperative binding for more details. Biochemistry is the chemistry of life, a bridge between biology and chemistry that studies how complex chemical reactions give rise to life. ... A macromolecule is a molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass. ... In chemistry, a ligand is an atom, ion or functional group that is bonded to one or more central atoms or ions, usually metals generally through co-ordinate covalent bond. ... In biochemistry, a macromolecule has cooperative binding if when binding a ligand, the affinity of the ligand for the molecule changes depending on the amount of ligand already bound. ...


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