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Co-operative Innovations in China and the West
Co-operative Innovations in China and the West
Co-operative Innovations in China and the West
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Co-operative Innovations in China and the West

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This book aims to contribute to our understanding of recent changes in Chinese and Western cooperatives. It will provide a variety of audiences with relevant and useful information for further co-operative development, mutual understanding and cooperation.
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Release dateJul 16, 2014
ISBN9781137277282
Co-operative Innovations in China and the West

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    Co-operative Innovations in China and the West - C. Gijselinckx

    Co-operative Innovations in China and the West

    Edited by

    Caroline Gijselinckx

    Research Manager, Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA), KU Leuven, Belgium

    Li Zhao

    Researcher, KU Leuven, Belgium

    Sonja Novkovic

    Professor, Saint Mary’s University, Canada

    Editorial matter, selection, introduction and conclusion © Caroline

    Gijselinckx, Li Zhao and Sonja Novkovic 2014

    Individual chapters © Respective authors 2014

    Foreword © Dame Pauline Green 2014

    All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

    No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

    Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

    The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

    First published 2014 by

    PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

    Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

    Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

    Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

    Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries

    ISBN: 978–1–137–27727–5

    This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

    A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Co-operative innovations in China and the West / edited by Caroline Gijselinckx, Research Manager,Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA), KU Leuven, Belgium, Li Zhao, Researcher,KU Leuven, Belgium, Sonja Novkovic, Professor,Saint Mary’rsity, Canada.

       pages cm

    Summary: The declaration of 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives by the general assembly of the United Nations highlights co-operative contributions to socio-economic development. Since its inception the co-operative movement included highly diverse co-operatives, with different aims, governance and financial structures. This is exemplified by differences between Western and Chinese cooperative traditions. Important economic and social transformations have led to radical innovations in the governance and capital structures of cooperatives, both in the West and in China, have been observed. Differences may remain but interesting convergences are also apparent. To date, little dialogue has taken place between Chinese and Western cooperatives. This book aims to contribute to our understanding of both those worlds and provides scholars, co-operative leaders and policy makers with relevant and useful information for further development of both Chinese and Western cooperatives. – Provided by publisher.

    ISBN 978–1–137–27727–5 (hardback)

    1. Cooperative societies – China. 2. Cooperative societies – Developed countries. 3. Agriculture, Cooperative – China. 4. International relations. I. Gijselinckx, Caroline, editor of compilation. II. Zhao, Li, 1982– editor of compilation. III. Novkovic, Sonja, editor of compilation.

    HD2963.C6586 2014

    3389.0640951—dc232014019733

    Contents

    List of Figures

    List of Tables

    Foreword

    Dame Pauline Green

    Acknowledgements

    Notes on Contributors

    Introduction

    Caroline Gijselinckx, Li Zhao and Sonja Novkovic

    Index

    List of Figures

    5.1 Co-operative capitalization models, member control and investor mentality

    7.1 The development of Fitch ratings between 2007 and 2011, across ownership structures

    9.1 Categories of FLOSS (by FSF)

    9.2 Drivers of Linux adoption

    9.3 Market share for top servers across all domains (August 1995–November 2011)

    9.4 Operating system family market share for supercomputer (TOP500, 06/2011)

    9.5 Primary operating systems for software development (2007–2010)

    12.1 A framework of co-operative finance

    14.1 The changing tendency of deposit and loan for Fengfu rural mutual fund association

    15.1 Market price index of residential housing (previous year = 100)

    15.2 The operation process of co-operative housing project

    List of Tables

    1.1 Members and average size in terms of members of co-operatives in Western countries, 1947 and 2009

    1.2 Types of state interventions in enterprises

    1.3 Arla Foods: direct group holding

    1.4 Perceived differences between a co-operative and a conventional enterprise, by CTA members’ ideological self-identification

    1.5 Perceived differences between a co-operative and a conventional enterprise, by CTA members’ age

    2.1 Sources of competitive advantage

    3.1 Typology of co-operative networks by their purpose; a comparison with Menzani and Zamagni (2010) typology of Italian networks

    4.1 Social co-operatives, solidarity co-operatives and sociétés coopératives d’intérêt collectif: summary and comparison

    5.1 Ownership and capitalization models adopted by agricultural co-operatives

    7.1 Market shares of co-operatives in selected countries in 2010

    9.1 FLOSS definition

    10.1 A typology of farmers’ co-operatives in China

    13.1 Different type of stakeholders in single-stakeholder co-operatives

    13.2 Different type of stakeholders in multi-stakeholder co-operatives

    13.3 Summary of stakeholders’ interest claims

    14.1 The three transformation choices for RCC in China (2003)

    14.2 Development model of China’s rural mutual fund associations

    14.3 The proportion for loan usage and loan term of Fengfu rural mutual fund association

    14.4 Shareholding structure of Shilipu and Shengyuan rural mutual fund associations

    15.1 LINECITY’s operational structure of individual co-operative housing

    15.2 Co-operative benefits claimed by LINECITY (3 examples) (LINECITY approach versus common commercial real-estate developer approach)

    Foreword

    The co-operative sector of the global economy is in a confident mood.

    While co-operatives, as any other business model, have felt the cold draught of economic downturn and recession in some parts of the world, it is clear that the fundamentals of their unique legal and financial structures have seen the sector emerge from the great financial crisis in good shape. Co-operative financial institutions have continued to grow, to lend to individuals and businesses, and are not in debt to taxpayers!

    The success of the International Year of Co-operatives in 2012 left the movement with a stronger sense of its own identity and of the huge contribution it already makes to the global economy. For the first time in their 170-year history, co-operatives have a greater sense of their own global cohesion and the strength and diversity of their business reach.

    The conclusion of the International Year, in Manchester in November 2012, saw a groundbreaking strategy emerge to build the co-operative family of businesses through this co-operative decade, with the aim of seeing it become the fastest-growing model of business by 2020.

    What lies behind that confidence, that unity and the strategy? The firm determination to use the business strengths, longevity and professionalism of its existing businesses in the post-industrial world, and the innovation, potential and growing political and economic influence of the emerging economies, where the co-operative sector often has a significant impact on the domestic economy.

    China is arguably the most important of those emerging economies.

    With 600 million Chinese living in rural poverty, the Chinese government is determined to see some of the significant benefits of its already-considerable urban wealth shared with the rural communities. Co-operatives are seen as a major player in addressing that shift and have seen double-digit growth figures for each of the last 11 years. With over 550,000 co-op businesses and growing rapidly, China looks set to overtake India’s 600,000 strong co-operative sector, as having the largest co-operative sector by number of businesses in the next five to ten years.

    With the Chinese economic growth figures down from a staggering 15 per cent to just under 8 per cent by the end of 2012, many Western commentators were reporting gloomily about a slowdown in the Chinese economy. But with a shift of investment from export-led to domestic-led growth, the Chinese leadership is making it clear that it can continue to grow its economy at levels that significantly outstrip the stagnant levels with which most of the West (and Japan) are struggling. Co-operatives are crucial to that policy.

    That is why this book is so timely and so relevant. The essays look at co-operative innovation and change in China and at its convergence with the co-operative renaissance that has been seen in the West over the last 10 to 15 years.

    From the perspective of the global co-operative movement, the Chinese co-operatives are now playing an important and strategic role alongside other key players from the co-op world in developing worldwide policy for the future.

    Responsibility for developing the Chinese domestic co-operative economy lies with the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Co-operatives (ACFSMC). For many years now the ACFSMC has been exploring the way modern co-operative businesses work across the world – how they are governed and financed, the levers for establishing innovative models in new sectors of the economy and defining the challenges and opportunities. Using the huge network within the International Co-operative Alliance of which they are members, they have studied, understood and are customising appropriate co-operative models for the Chinese environment, the requirements of their economy and to meet the needs of their people.

    For the International Co-operative Alliance, the emergence of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as key players in the global political and economic structures is crucial to its campaign to give the co-operative model of business the significance and public profile it deserves.

    Co-operatives are the most democratic and participatory form of business in the world. Whilst of course needing to make profits, they put people at the heart of economic decision making, given their clear constitutional duty to meet the needs of their members.

    A business model which is owned by one billion of the world’s citizens, which employs over 100 million people worldwide and which can demonstrate that its largest 300 businesses alone have a turnover of 2 trillion U.S. dollars, deserves to have its voice heard in the global institutions that dominate the world’s economy. When you couple this economic strength with the knowledge that co-operatives have been building civil society across the world for nearly 200 years – by developing local community leadership, bringing skills and expertise to local people, embedding democratic practices, encouraging more informed citizens, promoting education and helping women into positions in the real economy and leadership positions in their villages and communities – it is even clearer that its voice also deserves to be heard in public-policy terms.

    In this work, the International Co-operative Alliance need to have the informed support of all those countries which will have a key decision-making role on the direction of public policy and the global economy in the coming decades. In this respect, the West of course remains crucial, but China is already becoming a vital component.

    I welcome the contribution that this book makes to the greater understanding of co-operatives in China and that strategic debate.

    Dame Pauline Green

    President of the International Co-Operative Alliance

    Acknowledgements

    Contributors to this project come from various backgrounds, from agricultural economists to social scientists, economists, sociologists, historians, and experts in social economy research. Eminent scholars from government think tanks or leading universities and research centers in China joined Western scholars who have contributed extensively and made their mark on co-operative research and writing in their respective countries. Our contributors wrote chapters, served as reviewers of others, or both. In a carefully designed process, this effort was a true collaboration of peers. We thank all of them for their co-operation and effort.¹

    We are also honoured to have Dame Pauline Green, president of the International Co-Operative Alliance (ICA), write the foreword. She instantly believed in the project and gave us her full support.

    Besides the authors and reviewers of the chapters, we are greatly indebted to the secretariat of the Research Institute for Work and Society at the University of Leuven for the assistance with the layout, and the editors at Palgrave for their support and belief in the project.

    Financial support from the University of Leuven and Tsinghua University is gratefully acknowledged.

    Note

    1. A list of the members of the scientific committee involved in the review process is presented in the notes on contributors.

    Notes on Contributors

    Scientific committee

    Carlo Borzaga (Italy) is Professor of Economic Policy at the Faculty of Economics, University of Trento; President of EURICSE (European Research Institute on Co-operative and Social Enterprises), University of Trento; Dean of the Faculty of Economics, University of Trento.

    Michael Cook (U.S.A.) is Robert D. Partridge Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri.

    Caroline Gijselinckx (Belgium) was a research manager, co-operative and social entrepreneurship and civil society, Research Institute for Work and Society, Catholic University of Leuven. She is senior researcher at the Department of Education and Training of the Flemish government (Brussels, Belgium) since 2013.

    Constantine Iliopoulos (Greece) is Associate research professor, National Agricultural Research Foundation, Agricultural Economics and Policy Research Institute and Agricultural University of Athens.

    Zuhui Huang (China) is Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Zhejiang University.

    Jerker Nilsson (Sweden) is Professor of Co-operative Business and Marketing at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

    Sonja Novkovic (Canada) is Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Co-operative Management Education program at the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax.

    Roger Spear (UK) is Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, Chair of the Co-operatives Research Unit, founder-member and vice-president of the EMES research network on social enterprise; he teaches organizational systems and research methods at the Open University and is Guest Professor at the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Roskilde University.

    Xiaoshan Zhang (China) is Professor and Director of the Institute of Rural Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    Li Zhao (Belgium) is Lecturer in Political and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven.

    Contributors

    Patrizia Battilani (Italy) is Associate Professor in the Economic Sciences Department, University of Bologna.

    Carlo Borzaga (Italy) is Professor of Economic Policy at the Faculty of Economics, University of Trento; President of EURICSE (European Research Institute on Co-operative and Social Enterprises), University of Trento; Dean of the Faculty of Economics, University of Trento.

    Michael Cook (U.S.A.) is Robert D. Partridge Professor in the University of Missouri Department of Agricultural Economics.

    Sara Depedri (Italy) is a lecturer at EURICSE (European Research Institute on Co-operative and Social Enterprises), University of Trento.

    Giovanni Ferri (Italy) is Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Mathematics, University of Bari.

    Caroline Gijselinckx (Belgium) was a research manager, co-operative and social entrepreneurship and civil society, Research Institute for Work and Society, Catholic University of Leuven. She is senior researcher at the Department of Education and Training of the Flemish government (Brussels, Belgium) since 2013.

    Jean-Pierre Girard (Canada) is an international expert in collective enterprises and lecturer at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

    Guangwen He (China) is Professor, Chair of the Department of Finance, Director of the Center for Rural Finance and Investment Research, College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing.

    Constantine Iliopoulos (Greece) is Associate Research Professor at the National Agricultural Research Foundation, Agricultural Economics and Policy Research Institute and Agricultural University of Athens.

    Panu Kalmi (Finland) is Professor of Economics, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Vaasa.

    Guozhong Liu (China) is Senior Lecturer at Shandan Bailie School of Gansu Province, China.

    Sonja Novkovic (Canada) is Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Co-operative Management Education program, at the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax.

    Roger Spear (U.K.) is Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, Chair of the Co-operatives Research Unit, founder member and vice-president of the EMES research network on social enterprise, and teaches organisational systems and research methods at the Open University and is Guest Professor at the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Roskilde University.

    Martine Vézina (Canada) is Professor of Management at HEC Montréal.

    Dongbin Wang (China) is a PhD candidate at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University.

    Yuqi Wang (China) is a researcher, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Beijing.

    Bin Wu is a PhD candidate in the School of Management, Zhejiang University with a major in Agricultural Economics and Management. His research focuses on farmer co-operatives. He has participated in seven relevant national projects and published five academic articles.

    Xuchu Xu (China) is Professor at the School of Humanities and Law, Hangzhou Dianzi University.

    Peng Yuan (China) is Professor at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    Tim Zachernuk (Canada and China) is a development consultant and vice director of the Shandan Center for the Promotion and Development of Western Cooperatives.

    Li Zhao (Belgium) is a lecturer in political and social sciences, Catholic University of Leuven.

    Introduction

    Caroline Gijselinckx, Li Zhao and Sonja Novkovic

    Globally, the co-operative movement brings together over one billion people. Co-operatives provide over 100 million jobs, 20 per cent more than multinational enterprises. They are enterprises that put people instead of capital at the centre of their business. The United Nations estimated in 1994 that the livelihood of nearly three billion people, or half of the world’s population, was made secure by co-operative enterprises. These enterprises continue to play significant economic and social roles in their communities.¹ Policy makers in both industrialized and developing countries see them as effective tools to fight poverty, to create employment and to foster social cohesion. The general assembly of the United Nations declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives in order to highlight their contributions to socio-economic development of their communities. The year ended with the Blueprint for the Co-operative Decade, in which the world’s co-operatives identified common issues, common growth strategy and areas for increased density of co-operative businesses.² Co-operatives are experiencing a renaissance today all around the world.

    This book addresses co-operative responses to the new challenges in their changing environments in the West and in China – the largest emerging economy, and one which is on a fascinating journey from a centrally planned economy to a market superpower. Since its inception, the co-operative movement has been an international network of highly diverse co-operatives, with different aims and different governance and financial models, each with their own peculiarities. The Blueprint for the Co-operative Decade will help bridge some of those divergences, but peculiarities remain in the understanding and the applications of the co-operative model between China and Western countries. In the wake of important economic and social transformations, both in the West and the East, traditional co-operatives have re-engineered their models or engaged in new co-operative strategies, including new emergent types of co-operatives.

    With this book we shed light on convergences and divergences in co-operative models and highlight co-operative responses to particular socio-economic challenges in China and in the West. Select scholars and researchers share their insights with us – insights that are based on thorough academic analyses, both theoretical and empirical, in the respective regions.

    With ‘the West’, we mainly refer to countries where the ‘liberal democratic tradition’ of co-operatives prevailed all the way through the history of their co-operative sector. Chapters discussing evolutions and innovations in ‘the West’ are based upon research in Western European countries,³ United States and Canada. Co-operatives in these countries are largely characterized by individual ownership, unifunctionalism, market embeddedness and democratic governance: ‘one member – one vote’ (Melnyk 1985). Over the last two decades, however, economic, technological and political changes in business environments have led some co-operatives to demutualize or, alternatively, to develop new co-operative models. Under market pressure, a number of traditional (or classical) co-operatives changed their identity, relinquishing their co-operative principles and degenerating into typical investor-owned firms in order to grow and survive in turbulent markets. As a consequence, this practice has come under considerable scrutiny. The central question of whether demutualization of co-operatives was inevitable is of crucial importance to the co-operative enterprise development (for example, Côté 2001; Spear 2000; Birchall 2001; Nilsson 1999; Chaddad and Cook 2004; Develtere and Raymaekers 2005; Gijselinckx and Develtere 2008; Sousa and Herman 2012).

    Following this debate, the last 20 years or so have witnessed the emergence of various kinds of innovations adopted by the traditional co-operatives in Europe, the United States and elsewhere (Cook and Iliopoulos 1999; Iliopoulos 2009). Proportional investment, member-investor, new generation and investor-share co-operatives are but a few of the innovative forms of collective entrepreneurship that have emerged (Chaddad and Cook 2004). New co-operatives (mainly of a producer type) incorporate a greater degree of incentive alignment, are offensive in design, seek to generate economic rents at multiple levels and, consequently, create options for exit and short-term gain. During the same period, scholars highlight the emergence of social, solidarity or multistakeholder co-operatives (MSCs) in the West (for example Pestoff 1995; Borzaga and Mittone 1997; Münkner 2004; Gijselinckx and Develtere 2008; Gijselinckx 2009; Girard 2009) and their importance for economic participation and social cohesion (Galera 2004; MacPherson 2004; Thomas 2004). Internationally, these new co-operative forms have often been labelled as social enterprises (for example Borzaga and Defourny 2000; Borzaga and Spear 2004; Nyssens 2006; Defourny and Nyssens 2008; Defourny et al. 2009). Co-operatives in the West have also been innovative in developing networks to reach scale economies (Desrochers and Fischer 2003; Menzani and Zamagni 2010), to access co-operative capital and to provide new types of shared services (Novkovic and Holm 2012).

    Chinese co-operatives have for a long time developed along the Marxist tradition of co-operation, emphasizing collective ownership, multifunctionalism and state-embeddedness (Melnyk 1985; Develtere 1994). In recent years, a new co-operative movement in China, transforming from the Marxist tradition, has been witnessed (for example Zhang 1999; Xu 2005; Xu and Huang 2009; Zhang and Yuan 2009). Previous research demonstrates that co-operatives in China are highly innovative, creating the conditions for a different form of liberalization (Zhao 2009; Zhao and Develtere 2010; Zhao 2011, 2012). This is especially the case in agriculture where, since the 1980s, shareholding co-operatives have been established at a rapid pace and, since the late 1990s, agricultural co-operatives in China continued to grow (Bijman and Hu 2011). With the shift to the household contract responsibility system in the late 1970s and the dismantling of the commune system at the beginning of the 1980s, rural co-operatives in China have re-emerged to play an important role in rural local development in times of crises that exposed the rural population as the largest vulnerable group in Chinese society. The Chinese central government declared, on numerous occasions, the co-operative model as a key instrument for rapid rural economic development. This has been reinforced by much promotion and experimentation by provincial authorities, rural enterprises and agricultural communities. In such a context, the shareholding co-operative system was invented as an experiment in the reform of property rights and management systems and as a response to the problems created by the dismantling of collective properties. This system creates a new organizational ownership form and governance model, combining ‘one share – one vote’ with ‘one member – one vote’, in a ‘Meadean’ tradition (Meade 1989). It also provides for co-operation between local governments, collective enterprises and community residents. This system has later been used in community co-operatives and land co-operatives, as well as by the new and prosperous farmers’ specialized co-operatives (FSCs), particularly after the implementation of the Law on Farmers’ Specialized Co-operatives in 2007.

    The new co-operative forms in China resemble social (solidarity or multistakeholder) co-operatives emerging in the West, sharing features such as multiple stakeholder ownership, multi-purpose character and community-orientation/social responsibility. However, their investor profile and governance systems seem to run counter to the liberal democratic principles of the Western co-operative movement as defined in the Statement on Co-operative Identity adopted at the International Conference and General Assembly of the ICA in 1995 and in the ILO Promotion of Co-operatives Recommendation 193 of 2002. Given these trends, it seems particularly interesting to reveal the divergences, but also convergences, in the evolution of co-operatives in China and Western countries. Fortunately, a number of research projects have been carried out to identify either innovative co-operative experiences in the West, or new co-operative models in China. Unfortunately, to date, the scope and approach of these studies have created little dialogue between the two regions on the assessment of the co-operative realities. This is the gap this book attempts to fill. We bring together insights about Chinese and Western co-operative innovations to start a dialogue, based on concrete and systematic knowledge and a true understanding of the models, their evolutions and their implications.

    Both in China and in Western countries, co-operatives, through their varied activities, are significant social and economic actors in national and global economies and contribute to the human well-being at regional, national and global levels. With the new post-2012 blueprint for co-operative growth it is necessary to scrutinize recent innovations in traditional and new co-operative sectors, examine their adaptive capacity and highlight their important roles in and contributions to socio-economic development. Moreover, the recent economic crisis and the crisis of public finance have already triggered a search for new solutions in the welfare sector. These trends and challenges contribute to a renewed public interest in the role of co-operatives as innovative solutions in modern market economies of the Western welfare states as well as the Chinese socialist market economy.

    Contacts between Western and Chinese co-operatives, co-operative researchers and relevant policy makers have not been many so far. Where they exist, they are largely based upon preconceptions that are not always in line with realities. Western actors (including international agencies such as the International Co-operative Alliance, the ILO and the World Bank) have their preconceptions of Chinese co-operatives, and exhibit strong opinions on how China should operate when it comes to co-operatives. They do not fully understand some of the intricacies of the Chinese co-operative approach. The Chinese actors, on the other hand, have their own experiences, but also their own (idealistic) conceptions of the Western model. As Chinese and Western co-operatives are evolving and experimenting with new operational mechanisms, a good understanding of ‘the other major economic player’ is a strategic factor. This is all the more important since Chinese and Western co-operatives are increasingly working together. In addition, international financial agencies, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, are providing loan packages for the agricultural sector in which most of these co-operatives operate. New efforts are, therefore, needed to identify factors that contribute to the understanding of recent co-operative innovations in China in comparison with trends and evolutions in co-operatives in the West. This comparative approach will provide a variety of actors on both sides with relevant and strategic information on the newest developments in the co-operative sector, but it will also shed light on some global developments and dilemmas unique to all co-operatives in the increasingly globalized economy.

    The book is organized in three parts. The first part is a general analysis of trends and evolutions of co-operatives in the West. A historical analysis by Patrizia Battilani is followed by a chapter by Roger Spear that elaborates on a core contemporary challenge of globalization and how co-operatives can cope with it. Inter-co-operation and networks are presented as a key strategy to cope with globalization, while keeping the co-operative identity. In the third chapter, Sonja Novkovic develops a typology and analysis of co-operative networks as organizational innovations, safeguarding the co-operative identity and values. Networks are also a key feature of so-called multistakeholder co-operatives where various actors network and work together to realize common goals of development and service delivery. Different legal frameworks and organizational forms of multistakeholder co-operatives are presented by Martine Vézina and Jean-Pierre Girard, focusing on Italian social co-operatives, Quebec solidarity co-operatives and French co-operative societies with a collective interest.

    The second part of the book is dedicated to sector-specific trends and evolutions in co-operatives in the West. This part starts with two ensuing chapters by Costas Iliopoulos and Michael Cook, focusing respectively on stakeholder participation in agricultural co-operatives in the West and recent innovations to tackle issues of globalization, capitalization and democratic governance. These two chapters are followed by an analysis by Giovanni Ferri and Panu Kalmi of the development and challenges faced by co-operative banks in the West, pointing out that they also benefit greatly from network strategies. Carlo Borzaga and Sara Depedri next write on social co-operatives and the provision of welfare services in Italy, which in fact builds upon the previous chapters by Vézina and Girard and Novkovic in the first part of the book. In the last chapter of this second part, Dongbin Wang introduces us into the world of FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) with its ‘commons’ ideology and legal framework, at once challenging traditional ‘ownership’ views and building on features such as communities, co-operation and networking. The third part of the book gives a thorough insight into the institutional and organizational evolution of Chinese co-operatives. Two chapters by Li Zhao and Peng Yuan focus on stakeholder participation in Chinese agricultural co-operatives, complementing the first two chapters in the second part of the book. A general introduction to rural co-operatives by Xuchu Xu and Bin Wu provides a typology and a pathway for the development of rural co-operatives in China, with a multi-layered approach and strong government support. Tim Zachernuc and Guozhong Liu focus on the potential role for co-operatives in poverty alleviation in a contrasting bottom-up approach. The third part of the book ends with chapters by Guangwen He on the history of Chinese banking co-operatives and Yuqi Wang on grass-roots housing experiments in China.

    The book’s conclusion brings together the most important insights with respect to co-operative innovations in China and in the West and identifies some future challenges and opportunities. While we do not claim to cover all trends and evolutions in the East and West in this book, we believe the volume presents some important regional co-operative developments. The book presents a comparative analysis of recent trends and evolutions and contributes to a discourse about the divergences and convergences in the trends and evolutions of co-operatives in China and the West. Given the importance of the Chinese co-operative sector to the global picture and the impact of co-operatives, as well as their role in shifting the economic focus to home-grown solutions, we believe this volume is a timely and relevant contribution to the ‘co-operative decade’.

    Notes

    1. www.ica.coop/statistics.html .

    2. www.ica.coop .

    3. ‘Western European countries’ includes Northern and Southern European countries, while excluding former socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe.

    References

    Bijman, J. and Hu, D. (2011) ‘The Rise of New Farmer Cooperatives in China; Evidence from Hubei Province’, Journal of Rural Cooperation, 39(2): 99–113.

    Birchall, J. (2001) The New Mutualism in Public Policy. London: Routledge.

    Borzaga, C. and Defourny, J. (2000) The Emergence of Social Enterprise. London: Routledge.

    Borzaga, C. and Mittone, L. (1997) The Multi-stakeholder Versus the Nonprofit Organisations. Università degli Studi di Trento – Dipartimento di Economia, Discussion Paper no. 7.

    Borzaga, C. and Spear, R. (2004) Trends and Challenges for Co-operatives and Social Enterprises in Developed and Transition Countries. Trento: Edizioni31.

    Chaddad, F.R. and Cook, M.L. (2004) ‘Understanding New Cooperative Models: An Ownership-Control Rights Typology’, Review of Agricultural Economics, 26(3): 348–360.

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