Guests and Abstracts, 6th of December 2014

Cooperative Rural Development (presentations 20 minutes each and discussion)

Darina Zaimova, Cynthia Giagnocavo, Yuliana Yarkova

Department of "Industrial business and entrepreneurship", Faculty of Economics, Trakia University, Bulgaria, Horticulture, Cooperative Studies and Sustainable Development, University of Almería, Spain, Center for Regional development, Trakia University, Bulgaria

Rural areas and innovation – The collaborative action and potential of academia and business to strengthen cooperative development across Europe

Abstract

Rural areas across the Europe and the world represent complex systems that require a multi-disciplinary approach and multi-actor analysis to reflect the dynamics within their economic and social structures, institutional supports and the important and relevant macro-economic determinants. The structure of the rural economy differs significantly, varying greatly by type of the region and by country. One of the most intensively discussed characteristics of rural development concerns the level of cooperative and collective action and the various ways it is operationalized and contributes to particular economic, social or even ecological needs and goods. The general statistics demonstrate cooperative significance – 160 000 cooperatives across Europe with 123 million members and 5.4 million employees. Nevertheless when these numbers are transposed to the national and local levels it appears that the cooperative intensity is quite diversified and unbalanced. Cooperatives are developed in different economic and social sectors, within varying institutional support, sometimes defined by clear or vague legislative system, either well-accepted or avoided by community, etc. These differences call for a new research paradigm.

The present study aims to highlight initial results of a study mapping key regional actors and, which represents the multi-faced environment of the rural areas in Europe and their cooperative development. Five countries – Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Serbia are involved in "Cooperative Business and Innovative Rural Development: Synergies between Commercial and Academic Partners" – the C-BIRD project. Focusing on the various types of critical infrastructure, inputs, and services that are provided by the government authorities, different stakeholders, organizations and connected enterprises, the analysis is intended to serve two purposes:

to be build a conceptual framework for thinking and analyzing the cooperative business and its institutional environment specific for each regional profile;
to share knowledge about the role of various actors involved directly or indirectly in stimulating and promoting cooperativism.

Therefore this analysis is about understanding the critical elements of the institutional system, knowledge mechanisms and general policy instruments in terms of their specific features, constraints and capabilities to play a role and foster cooperative development. Four inter-linked components will be considered as important part of the process: rural development actors and the relationships emerging at institutional and civil level; cooperative and business environment factors and specific constraints; enabling institutional support (incl. local authorities, community support) and sources for positive change, and finally economic, social environmental trends.

We will profile cooperative mapping in various contexts to explore the functioning and development of cooperative systems.

Key words:

C-BIRD, academic and business partners, social entrepreneurship, cooperatives, rural areas

Short Biographies:

Darina Zaimova is an Associate Professor at the Department "Industrial business and entrepreneurship" at Trakia University (Bulgaria), where she has been member of the Faculty of Economics since 2005. She holds a PhD in Economics. She is a beneficiary of the Justus-von-Liebig Award - research fellow in the Institute of Agricultural Economics of the Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany (2006); post-doctoral research fellow at EURICSE, Italy for the academic year 2010-2011. Her research interests and academic work include cooperatives, rural areas, social entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

Cynthia Giagnocavo is the Co-director of the Chair of Horticulture, Cooperative Studies and Sustainable Development (Coexphal/UAL) at the University of Almería, Spain. Her area of study is agriculture and credit cooperatives and collective entrepreneurship. She was the Spain country expert for the EU Study "Support for Farmers´ Cooperatives" (coordinated by Wageningen) and is also involved in several other European projects concerning cooperatives and agriculture. She is a member of the European Study Group on Cooperative Banks.

Yuliyana Yarkova holds a doctoral degree in Economics and Management (2001). Her PhD thesis is focused on studying the economic efficiency of dairy farms. She is a full professor at Trakia University, Bulgaria and a member of the Monitoring Committee of Rural Development Program, 2007-2013, Bulgaria and of the Regional Development Council, Southeast Region (NUTS 2) of Bulgaria. She is Head of Department "Regional development" and Chairman of the Center for Regional development, Trakia University. Yuliana Yarkova has three international specializations: Wye College, Kent, England; Missouri University, USA, Dronten University, The Netherlands. She has authored and co-authored more than 60 scientific publications on topics related to economic efficiency of agricultural production and economic development of rural areas. She is a supervisor and member of over 10 scientific projects, organizer and co-organizer of four national and three international scientific forums.

Cynthia Giagnocavo, Darina Zaimova, Emilio Galdeano-Gómez

Horticulture, Cooperative Studies and Sustainable Development, University of Almería, Spain Department of "Industrial business and entrepreneurship", Faculty of Economics, Trakia University, Bulgaria, Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Almería, Spain

Cooperatives and the family farm: in-between markets and family ties

Abstract

Farming occupies a renewed importance because of its impact on issues such as providing a secure source of food, environmental and ecosystem stewardship, measures against global climate change, water conservation, and the survival of rural populations. All of these factors are important in the European goals of achieving sustainable development objectives.

Family farms are responsible for the production of 80% of the world´s food production with 570 million farms. Empirical evidence and reports produced in the lead-up to the 2014 UN International Year of Family Farms, demonstrate that family farms have been found to ensure food security, help achieve a sustainable and resilient agriculture, contribute to successful rural areas and ensure long term viability, preserve values and, overall, add to the proper functioning of the food chain. However, family farms experience a wide array of increasing difficulties as the gradual liberalization of global markets has placed even more pressure on European family farmers, who face competition both from producers in developing economies, who have a cost advantage, and from many developed countries, whose agricultural economies can rely on sophisticated organization, larger size, and economies of scale.

Cooperatives play an important role in the resilience of family farms and can take many forms thus offering broad support to family farmers. While a common argument for organizing family farm economic activity through the use of the cooperative business form is the creation of economies of scale, the possibilities of collective action go much further, having been shown to negotiate social, cultural and economic transformations that may adversely affect family farmers; provide a stronger political voice; organise production and improve quality; and build "social capital". Promoting cooperatives and other forms of producer association, thereby strengthening the position of family farms on the market, is not about "creating value for shareholders", but rather the distribution of wealth to thousands of small farmers.

In spite of these arguments, agricultural cooperatives have not been embraced by all member states in the same proportion. Political and cultural environments may be barriers to the adoption of collection action, as well as the perceived complication in setting up cooperative channels. In transitions countries and new member states, lack of knowledge of how cooperatives function also plays a role as does the consequences of financial and land reform and fragmentation. This state of affairs leads to several questions: Are arguments of the added "efficiencies", scale and benefits of the cooperative business structure sufficient to describe the potential value of cooperatives for family farms? Are there other roadblocks to their adoption, and if so, what institutional environments and conditions would foster collective entrepreneurship amongst families?

We contrast two areas in Spain and Bulgaria. In the project C-BIRD "Cooperative Business and Innovative Rural Development: Synergies between Commercial and Academic Partners" initial results have investigated the role that cooperatives play in the promotion of economically viable family farm agriculture in the context of rural sustainability. In Spain cooperatives represent approximately 45% of the market share of main agricultural activity. In contrast, Bulgaria has experienced a drastic reduction in agricultural cooperative organisations, whereby they represent 0.26% of agricultural holdings and in general the agricultural value chains suffer from very weak horizontal and vertical relationships. Cooperatives in Spain in general, have proven to be an efficient form for vertical and horizontal supply organization, leveraging regional endogenous potential, preserving local identity and representing family farm members' interests at institutional level. In the case of the Eastern agricultural model, both family farms and the cooperative forms experience difficulties that question cooperative efficiency and sustainability.

Keywords:

Family Farms, Agricultural Cooperatives, Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Policy

Short Biographies:

Emilio Galdeano-Gómez is a Professor in the Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Almería in Spain. He received his BS in Business Administration in 1990 from the University of Valencia and his PhD in Economics and Business Administration in 1994 from the University of Almería. His research interests include rural development and policy, agricultural economics, environmental performance and agribusiness management. His recent publications have appeared in Sociologia Ruralis, Journal of Agrarian Change, International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability and Ecological Economics among others.

Julia Doitchinova, Mary O'Shaughnessy, Emilio Galdeano-Gómes

Department of Natural Resources Economics at the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, Department of Food Business and Development, University College Cork, Ireland, Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Almería, Spain

Contribution of LEADER programme to sustainable rural development

Abstract

The success of the EU LEADER programme, initially launched in 1991, with an emphasis on community-led, territorial local development and broad-based public participation is reflected in the ongoing commitment to the initiative by the EU in the next EU CAP (2014-2020). In this new CAP, the LEADER methodology is viewed as key to community-led, sustainable rural development processes.

The EU LEADER programme has been in operation in Ireland and Spain since 1992, and, more recently, in Bulgaria since 2007. The objective of this paper is to describe how the LEADER programme has been operationalised in each of these countries. It will compare the differences and similarities of each national process of implementation and describe some of the most significant impacts of the most recent LEADER programme (2007-2013). The paper will conclude with a discussion of the lessons to be learned from each country's experience of LEADER and its' contribution to sustainable rural development.

The paper will begin with an overview of the theoretical and methodological framework which underpins the LEADER programme. Special attention will focus on the characteristics and role of the LEADER approach in strengthening the capacity of local communities to engage in local rural development.

The paper will provide an overview and description of how the LEADER programme has been implemented in the three countries and assess and compare some of the the results of the most recent programme in terms of its contribution to improving the quality of life of rural residents. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the importance of community-led local development programme for future LEADER programme.

Key words:

LEADER programme, local action group (LAG), rural development

Short Biographies:

Julia Doitchinova is Professor in department of Natural Resources
Economics at the University of National and World Economy-Sofia and Trakia University – Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. She has managed and participated in a number of research projects on the issues of development of rural areas and policy, cooperative management, agricultural economics, development of networks in agribusiness and agribusiness management.

Mary O' Shaughnessy is a lecturer with the Department of Food Business and Development at University College Cork, Ireland. She is the academic director of the NUI BSc Rural Development by Distance Learning, a member of the Irish National Rural Network, and board member of the EMES International Research Network (social enterprises).

Cooperatives, Social Economy and Democracy (presentations 20 minutes each and discussion)

Theo Benos, Nikos Kalogeras, Paulina Papastathopoulou, Ko de Ruyter, Martin Wetzels

Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management, School of Business & Economics, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

The deleterious effects of "agora ostracism" in cooperatives.

Abstract

Cooperatives are key business players worldwide, providing both economic and social returns. They have more than a billion members, employ millions of workers and showcase a cumulative turnover of many trillions of dollars, actively contributing to the sustainable development even of disadvantaged areas. Not surprisingly, one of the main goals of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is "for the cooperative business form to become by 2020 the model preferred by people" (ICA Blueprint 2012 - "Vision 2020"). Another key ICA goal is to "elevate participation within cooperative membership and governance to a new level". Cooperatives develop individual participation and governance, as members own their cooperative and have a right to information, a voice, and representation. Nevertheless, cooperative governance and viability are often challenged by waning member collaboration, decreasing member control/influence, weaker voice and superficial interaction. In our study, we highlight the importance of attending to one of the increasing threats for cooperative survival, namely "ostracism". Ostracism—excluding and ignoring by individuals or groups—appears to occur among all social animals and across history in humans, from primitive tribal groups to modern sophisticated societies. As humans have a fundamental need to form and maintain relationships, ostracism has devastating psychological effects and has been found to be pervasive and very relevant for any groups of individuals. Even the slightest whiff of ostracism creates a negative state within the individual, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, including being excluded by despised others or even by a computer. People are ostracized formally within their religions, societies, and institutions. Ostracism occurred long before it was named ("ostrakismos") around 500 BC, when Athenians cast their votes on shards of clay, ostraca, to determine whether a member of the community would be banished for 10 years. This would typically occur in public forums, like that of "agora", the central spot of the city, where citizens would assemble and take most political decisions. Inspired by ostracism's ancient roots, we termed ostracism in voluntary collectives like cooperatives "agora ostracism". We expected that the latter would be rather impactful in cooperative organizations, poisoning member relations and cooperation, while heightening turnover intentions. We developed a new measure (i.e., multi-item scale) to study it in cooperatives, accounting for exclusionary perceptions, like deliberate or unintentional ignorance, interests disregard, poor "voice", insufficient attention, information exclusion and unacknowledged viewpoints. We empirically tested this new measure across two field studies, one within an agribusiness cooperative (184 responses) and one within a cooperative bank (318 responses). Results show that ostracism, albeit a low base-rate phenomenon, is common and rather aversive. Members typically experience ostracism from other members, employees of the cooperative or even members of the Board of Directors, and are strongly affected. Overall, agora ostracism turns out to have deleterious effects on cooperative members and negative behavioral consequences, putting participation and membership at stake, thus, posing a serious threat to continued cooperative success and challenging one of ICA's principal goals. We round off our study with suggestions on how to combat ostracism or mitigate its influence.

Keywords:

cooperatives, ostracism, members, turnover intentions.

Short Biography:

Theo Benos is an agribusiness consultant, manager of the Greek agribusiness portal www.gyri.gr as well a PhD candidate at the department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management of Maastricht University. He studied European Economics (B.Sc.) at the Athens University of Economics and Business, Agribusiness Marketing and Economics (M.Sc.) at Wageningen University and Marketing Research (Advanced MSc) at Ghent University. He has worked, among others, at Unilever and at DG Agri of the European Commission. Ha has given presentations at several scientific conferences (e.g., EAAE, ICA) and is an expert in CAP implementation in Greece. His current research agenda focuses on agribusiness management, sustainability, social exclusion, cooperatives and agricultural policy.

Markéta Vinkelhoferová

Ecumenical Academy Prague, fair trade cooperative Fair&Bio, Czech Republic

Cooperative as a social enterprise playing a significant role in social economy

Abstract

My contribution involves presentation of the Fair&Bio cooperative as unique example of 3 joining principles for social economy in the Czech Republic: cooperative system, social enterprise and fair trade. Fair&Bio was established in 2011 and since 2013 it has been running a small fair trade coffee roasting plant. More than half of its employees are mentally and physically disabled. Ecumenical academy Prague, a founding member of Fair&Bio, has along-term thorough experience in fair trade. Besides raising awareness it set up the first fair trade wholesale in the CR 10 years ago and still runs the only fair trade shop in Prague. Fair&Bio is a member of TESSEA a network of Czech social enterprises. It belongs to the working group that had drafted important new legislature on social enterprises in the CR this autumn-winter. The range of activities of Ecumenical academy Prague further includes: showing alternatives to the current economic system and proposing solutions to growing inequalities in the global South as well in the global North. It also organizes debates and publishes texts on cooperative systems.

Keywords:

cooperative system, social enterprise and fair trade

Short Biography:

Markéta Vinkelhoferová is a project coordinator at the Ecumenical Academy Prague and a member of the Czech fair trade cooperative Fair&Bio. She has worked as a freelance journalist for the Nový Prostor street paper, Literární noviny and Týdeník A2 and an English language teacher. She also has experience with working with immigrants in the Czech Republic as well as with volunteer work abroad (Bethlehem, Palestine).

Paul Bernstein

University of California-Irvine and Boston College, USA

Six Necessary Components for Successful Workplace Democracy

Abstract

By researching the causes of failure and success in more than 50 companies that attempted democratic management (in 15 different countries including Central Europe, western & eastern Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East & Asia), Dr. Bernstein discovered six components to be essential for the long-term success of democratic management. These components included groups of structures, processes, and mentalities (attitudes and behavioral skills) that proved themselves to be crucially important to enable long-term success. The absence of any one of the six components eventually led to the decay of democracy, leaving companies with a conventional, topdown (more or less autocratic) management process ― even if the companies survived economically. This full-paper session will describe those six components in depth, and will show why each component depends on the others to function effectively. Yet this research did not conclude that a single, rigid, form must be imposed on companies wanting to manage their affairs democratically. Rather, because each component can occur successfully in a variety of forms, the six components can be tailored to suit the special needs and situations of each particular enterprise.

Keywords: co-operatives, employee-ownership, democratic management, worker co-ops, workplace democracy

Short Biography:

Paul Bernstein received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University, and also studied at the University of London and at Charles University (Prague). He taught social sciences at the University of California-Irvine and at Boston College, and served on the faculty of the New School for Democratic Management. His professional publications have appeared in the Journal of Economic Issues, Working Papers for a New Society, the World of Work Report, and Europa92. He has consulted to the National Consumer Cooperative Bank, the US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, the National Center for Economic Alternatives, California's Department of Transportation, and European participatory organizations. Additionally, he has written political and cultural analysis for general audiences in the Boston Globe, The Progressive, Christianity & Crisis, Czech periodicals RESPEKT and Přítomnost, and US National Public Radio for which he was granted an award by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Jiří Guth

Alternativa zdola, Czech Republic

Project INECON

Cooperation without cooperatives

Annotation

Cooperatives are not very popular in the Czech Republic: among 2 717 700 registered enterprises there are 15 129 co-ops only. Low "communist" reputation is the outlasting cause of the current status, while the new one has come with the new Civic Code: to establish a co-op demands time and/or money. Nevertheless, number of community-based, cooperative activities are conducted in various other forms. Examples of such civic associations, public limited companies, informal groups and even individual enterpreneurs are presented.

Short Biography:

Jiří Guth is an environmentalist with ample experience from the NGO sector. For 10 years he worked at the Czech Ministry of the Environment, part-time teaching at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. His research focuses mainly on landscape ecology and his work in the public sector is related to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and on nature conservation (esp. Natura 2000 network establishment and monitoring not only in the Czech Republic, but in Romania and Croatia as well). Recently, he has been active in rural development and the co-operative movement. He is a member of the Alternativa zdola initiative and the Green Party and is the head of the Board of the Borovany Brewery Coop.