A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. They differ from collectives in that they are generally built from the bottom-up, rather than the top-down. Cooperatives may include:
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
Efrén Pérez Rivera was a Puerto Rican environmentalist leader and college professor. He got married at the age of 28 with Pezinka Berenguer, till the day he died. He had three children with her, Efrén Pérez Berenguer, Manuel Pérez Berenguer, and José Luis Pérez Berenguer
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to goods and services.
A UBPC, or Basic Unit of Cooperative Production, are a type of agricultural cooperative that exists in Cuba.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
Cooperativeeconomics is a field of economics that incorporates cooperative studies and political economy toward the study and management of cooperatives.
A co-operative federation or secondary co-operative is a co-operative in which all members are, in turn, co-operatives. Historically, co-operative federations have predominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and co-operative unions. Co-operative federations are a means through which co-operatives can fulfill the sixth Co-operative Principle, co-operation among co-operatives. The International Co-operative Alliance notes that “Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.”
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
The Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks is the representative body of savings banks in Spain.
The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) is a European interest group representing cooperative banks in the European Union (EU) and five non-European countries. Established in 1970, the non-profit association "represents, promotes and defends" the common interests of its 27 member institutions and 2.500 cooperative banks regarding banking as well as cooperative legislation.
Laboral Kutxa is a Basque credit union that provides banking, savings and investment services.
The National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) is the largest cooperative federation in the Philippines with 760 member cooperatives and Non-governmental Organizations NGO in 77 Provinces and 130 Cities and Municipalities as of June 2015.
Buldana Urban Cooperative Credit Society was formed on 15 August 1986. Chairman (Mr.) Radheshyamji Chandak started it with capital of 210 USD and 72 members. In a span of 27 years and mainly in last decade under managing director Dr Sukesh Zamwar, the Credit Society has grown to size of 1.1 billion dollar business with more than half a million (700,000) membership. The area of operation is mainly in central and western India in four states of India. Now the society has 333 branches and 5000 employee and 300 warehouses. Total built up area for Warehouse is 5,000,000 sq feet and capacity of 435,000 metric tons. It maintains a presence in most of the metro cities of India and also in rural areas.
The Confederation of Cooperative Companies of the Basque Country is a Basque institution founded in 1996 that represents the social economy business community of the Basque Country.
