eDigest - September 2011 - Co-op sector manages crisis better than its counterparts

01 Sep 2011

Co-operative enterprises fare better than their conventional counterparts in the face of a continuing global financial crisis.

They also recovered more strongly than other businesses in 2010 as the effects of the crisis lessened, albeit temporarily in some regions.

However in Europe, the failure of the public purse to pay service co-operatives is placing certain co-operatives in danger of survival. “In Europe, activities and the development of co-operatives providing social services are hampered by the public budget limitations and late payment problems,” the CICOPA report says.

It is CICOPA’s third annual report on the global financial crisis and its effects.

“We also notice that the crisis has entered a new period in which things are shifting more swiftly: some countries were resistant until now but it seems that measures they had put in place in order to avoid closures are no longer sufficient,” the report says.

While CICOPA members report a slight fall in employment, the study concludes that very few jobs are being lost in traditional co-operatives. However, in the construction sector the harmful impact of the crisis is most prominent though it is experiencing the most fertile environment for the establishment of new co-operatives.