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Cooperative identity as a yardstick for transformative change

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  • Sonja Novkovic

Abstract

Cooperatives serve a competitive yardstick role in markets dominated by market power such as monopsony or monopoly. This paper argues they can also serve a normative yardstick role in efforts to provide contextual social indicators for sustainability reporting that aims to instigate transformative change. The Statement on the Cooperative Identity, which includes cooperative values, principles, and purpose of associative economic organizing (ica.coop), can serve as a blueprint for the construction of social sustainability indicators. The paper then addresses two issues: one, it answers the question what should cooperatives measure and why; and two, it suggests the framework for transformative indicators informed by the purpose of cooperative organizing. In particular, cooperative enterprise model contributes to fair income distribution, promotes economic democracy, de‐commodifies necessities and fictitious commodities, and contributes to community development by investing in the real economy. These impact areas ought to be measured and disclosed.

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  • Sonja Novkovic, 2022. "Cooperative identity as a yardstick for transformative change," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 313-336, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:annpce:v:93:y:2022:i:2:p:313-336
    DOI: 10.1111/apce.12362
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    1. S. Chinju Chandran & S. Rajitha Kumar, 2024. "Industrial cooperatives: A sustainable business model for promoting social entrepreneurship," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Cornée, Simon & Rousselière, Damien & Thelen, Véronique, 2025. "The environmental benefits of grassroots cooperatives in agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    3. Bodenstein Fouché, Karel & Polo-Garrido, Fernando, 2024. "Corporate reporting by cooperatives: Mapping the landscape and identifying determinants," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3).
    4. Noreen Byrne, 2023. "Cooperative Lifecycle Framing—Reinvention or Regeneration and Does It Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, April.
    5. Marcos Carchano & Inmaculada Carrasco & Ángela González, 2024. "Eco‐innovation and environmental performance: Insights from Spanish wine companies," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 595-623, June.
    6. Esther J. Cheyo & Edmond Nyuyki Mainimo & Daniel M. Okello & Walter Odongo & Stephen W. Kalule, 2024. "Participation and commercialization in producer cooperatives: Insights on the role of cooperative functioning and equity strategies," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(3), pages 815-834, September.
    7. Ahmed Herab & Ahmad Al-Ghamdi & Khodran Alzahrani & Khalid M. Elhindi & Muhammad Muddassir & Hazem S. Kassem, 2022. "A Framework for Quantifying the Strength of Partnerships between Agricultural Cooperatives and Development Actors: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, December.
    8. María Jesús Segovia‐Vargas & I. Marta Miranda‐García & Freddy Alejandro Oquendo‐Torres, 2023. "Sustainable finance: The role of savings and credit cooperatives in Ecuador," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 951-980, September.
    9. Rafael Ziegler & Cynthia Poirier & Marie Lacasse & Evan Murray, 2023. "Circular Economy and Cooperatives—An Exploratory Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Remigijus Civinskas & Rimantas Stašys & Asta Pancerovienė & Aušra Anužienė, 2023. "Social Cooperative Model Choices in the Socially Unsustainable Environment: Evidence from Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Dong Li, 2024. "Sustainable Ecosystems and the Economics of State Ownership: A Three-Stage Structural Framework and Innovative Insights," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 11090-11127, September.
    12. Huma Neupane & Krishna P. Paudel & Qinying He, 2023. "Impact of cooperative membership on market performance of Nepali goat farmers," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 805-830, September.
    13. Cemil Ozan Soydemir & Mehmet Erçek, 2023. "The resurrection of earlier imprints post mortem: Explaining the Turkish agricultural cooperative movement with an imprinting theory lens, 1888–1937," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 1199-1232, December.
    14. Rousselière, Damien & Bouchard, Marie J. & Rousselière, Samira, 2024. "How does the social economy contribute to social and environmental innovation? Evidence of direct and indirect effects from a European survey," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).

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