Forms of Cooperation

Helmut Nechansky

Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2018, vol. 35, issue 6, 703-717

Abstract: Investigations of cooperation often use totally different definitions, ranging from any mutual activities, via pursuing mutually stipulated goals, to altruistic services to others. To develop an overarching framework to order these definitions, the paper studies cooperation in the widest sense, understood as mutual activity towards mutually accepted goal values. It considers goal‐setting processes preceding cooperation, and the resulting different systems of goal values pursed and the related levels of utility achieved by cooperating parties. These different systems of goal‐values and achieved levels of utility provide a framework to distinguish eight forms of cooperation: They may express (i) sharing ideals, (ii) agreement of equals, or (iii) of unequals; (iv) the uniting of cooperating units; (v) the agreement of representatives; (vi) the restricted integration of newcomers; (vii) hierarchical top‐down subjection; or (viii) altruistic bottom‐up subordination. Finally, it is shown that market exchange neither applies nor leads to any of these forms of cooperation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 2018
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