The Economics of Industrial Co-Operatives Some Lessons from Spain (Mondragon) and Italy

Abstract

Industrial Co-operatives have of recent, received a wide attention both in developed as well as in developing countries alike because of their general development, democratic management and employment creation aspects. Industrial co-operatives as such have occupied important positions for providing answers to problems of world market capitalist crisis. The aim of the paper is to try to point out some of the important features which have accounted for the success of industrial co-operatives in Spain and Italy even if at a micro-level, so that the developing countries can learn something out. of such an experience. It should however be pointed out here that while developing countries have something to learn from the experiences of industrial co-operative development in Spain and Italy, this does not substitute the basic problematic position occupied by them in the world market. Learning from the successes of these Cooperative Organisations will never be a substitute to the immense responsibility of restructuring our dependent economies and make them self-sustaining independent countries. This paper has been built on the experience of the author after a one-month study visit to Spain and Italy in 1982, The study was sponsored by the Swedish Cooperative Centre and the International Cooperative Alliance. Regional Office for East, Central and Southern Africa, Moshi, Tanzania. The views however expressed herein are those of the author, they do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsoring bodies or the Co-operative College Moshi, Tanzania