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Are cooperative firms a less competitive form of business? Production efficiency and financial viability of cooperative firms with tradable membership shares

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  • Mikami, Kazuhiko

Abstract

Cooperative firms are generally considered a less competitive form of business than conventional capitalist firms in a market system. In this study, we consider cooperative firms that issue tradable membership shares and show that they are in principle as efficient and financially viable as capitalist firms. This implies that, if allowed to issue tradable membership shares, cooperative firms could be a promising alternative to capitalist firms in a wider range of circumstances.

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  • Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2018. "Are cooperative firms a less competitive form of business? Production efficiency and financial viability of cooperative firms with tradable membership shares," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 487-502.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecosys:v:42:y:2018:i:3:p:487-502
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2017.11.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ho, Jerry & Hoang, Vincent & Wilson, Clevo, 2020. "Government R&D Subsidies and International Competitiveness of Labor-managed Firms," MPRA Paper 106896, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Dec 2020.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperative firm; Tradable membership share; Production efficiency; Financial viability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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