The role of Italian cooperatives in economic growth and job creation

TOPIC 14-STAGE 4-MACRO The economic crisis has caused and continues to cause profound changes in the Italian economy, thereby making both economic and social consequences difficult to predict. One of the changes reported by... [ view full abstract ]

TOPIC 14-STAGE 4-MACRO
The economic crisis has caused and continues to cause profound changes in the Italian economy, thereby making both economic and social consequences difficult to predict. One of the changes reported by researchers with increasing frequency relates to the roles of the different actors within the production system and the combination of new forms of organisation and interaction among the public sector, civil society organisations, and private enterprises.
In this context, the scientific debate has, therefore, focused on the role played by organisations which, by their nature, pursue primarily social purposes and are characterised by systems of participative governance. It has focused, in particular, on the role of cooperatives deepening their resilience during the crisis years from a theoretical point of view and by providing some empirical evidence that relates mainly to cooperative banks and workers’ cooperatives.
Against this background, this paper first aims to contribute to the knowledge of the Italian cooperatives’ size and importance in the Italian economy by providing an updated overview of the economic and employment size of Italian cooperatives and their evolution over the last years. Second, it aims to provide empirical evidence on the resilience of cooperatives both as a whole and by industry, also comparing their performances with other forms of enterprises.
This paper summarises the results presented in the third Euricse report on Italian cooperatives, with a particular focus on the year 2013 and the dynamics experienced by Italian cooperatives between the years 2008 and 2013. The analyses are based on data from a variety of sources, mainly administrative and other data collected directly by Euricse.

Keywords: cooperatives, employment, economic size, resilience, Italy