 A matter of identity? Youth participation in cooperatives' governance for a sustainable futureCaterina Pesci, Paolo Candio, Luca Fornaciari and Pier Luigi Marchini Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025, vol. 34, issue 1, 187-202 Abstract: The study explores the issue of youth participation in cooperative organisations, which are organisational arrangements characterised by a participatory governance model with sustainability values and principles in their DNA. We argue that an influential driver of participation in this setting is the conceptual–philosophical basis of cooperation that shapes a value‐based identity. We surveyed the attitudes and values of young people working in cooperative settings. We tested the hypotheses that youth participation is driven by self‐identification with cooperatives' values and a mentality oriented towards economic benefits. Using the lenses of identity theories, we contribute to the currently scant literature on this topic by identifying possible roots of a drift from cooperative missions in the attitudes that youth show in a decision‐making context. Our findings support the need to leverage combinations of multiple identities to retrieve benefits in governing cooperatives and educate young generations toward sustainable governance. Date: 2025 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:1:p:187-202 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Business Strategy and the Environment is currently edited by Richard Welford More articles in Business Strategy and the Environment from Wiley Blackwell |
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