Cooperative Entrepreneurship Model for Sustainable Development

Josefina Fernandez-Guadaño, Manuel Lopez-Millan and Jesús Sarria-Pedroza
Additional contact information
Josefina Fernandez-Guadaño: Accounting and Finance Department, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Manuel Lopez-Millan: Accounting and Finance Department, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Jesús Sarria-Pedroza: Accounting and Finance Department, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-11

Abstract: The main objective of this research is to contribute to the economic literature on cooperative entrepreneurship as a model for sustainable development, taking into account the special alignment of the cooperative principles (ICA) with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It offers new empirical evidence from Spain, based on Stakeholder Theory, about the differences between cooperatives (Coops) and Capitalist Firms (CFs) in relation to the distribution of economic value between the different stakeholders. For this purpose, panel data was analysed using the Correlated Random Effects approach. The results reveal that cooperative firms generate value for some of the stakeholders analysed, specifically for their partners and creditors, but no significant differences have been found with CFs in terms of workers and the state. In both cases, it can be inferred that the period analysed has influenced the results, since it has been found that, first, cooperatives adjust wages downward rather than dismiss workers during a recession, which is in line with previous research, and second, that their tax contribution to the state is lower because they are subject to a more favourable tax system in Spain.

Keywords: cooperatives; sustainability; social economy; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/13/5462/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/13/5462/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:13:p:5462-:d:381280

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().