A cooperative is an organization brought into being by a group of people with a common economic interest, with the collective serving as a mechanism to leverage benefits for the members in the market. It does business just as a corporation; however, what sets a cooperative apart from a corporation is its member-owned and -controlled characteristic. In this sense, a cooperative is a self-help enterprise for its members. Since its origin in the 19th century, the cooperative form of organization has evolved and grown into a formidable entity today. Some of the best known businesses around the globe are cooperatives – Rabobank of the Netherlands, Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa of Spain, REI of the US, Amul dairy of India, to name just a few. According to UN estimates, the total membership of cooperatives today is 800 million, with 100 million employed in their services. The sectoral spread of cooperatives, too, is impressive: agriculture, fisheries, banking, insurance, retail, utilities, housing, tourism, and transportation. This book provides an overview of cooperatives, discusses the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for cooperatives, and presents experiences of cooperatives in several countries.
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