![](_themes/nature/narule.gif)
A New Look at Cooperatives and Their Role in Developing Countries
Edgar Parnell
Small Enterprise Development, Volume 13, No 1, March 1992
Cooperatives have been adopted in many situations: in communist
countries, as a stepping stone to less centralised economies and in the
USA as a counterbalance in the strongly capitalist market-based system.
They have their convinced advocates as well as their detractors and there
are plenty of examples of both successes and failures to support either
camp.
This article suggests that cooperatives, as 'people-centred'
enterprises, provide an alternative to businesses that have the prime
objective of delivering returns based on capital ownership. It outlines
what a cooperative is and what it is not, and points out some pitfalls
that should be avoided if a cooperative is to stand a reasonable chance of
success.
Printer friendly version as a
48Kb doc file
![](_themes/nature/narule.gif)