Naslov
Croatian co-operatives’ story of revival: Overcoming external obstacles

Autori
Božić, Jasmina ; Šprajc, Ivan ; Srbljinović, Armano

Izvornik
Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management (2213-297X) 7 (2019), 2; 100090, 10

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
co-operatives ; crony capitalism ; institutional development ; qualitative research ; transitional economies

Sažetak
While in many European countries co-operative entrepreneurship manages to fulfill its economic and social functions successfully, in Croatia a large majority of almost 1200 registered co- operatives struggle hard to accomplish in demanding market conditions while sustaining their social dimension and few succeed. Only 19% of co- operatives accounted for 96% of overall income earned by Croatian co-operatives in 2015. We critically examine obstacles related to external legal, policy, infrastructural and other conditions that are either insufficient, completely missing or, if existent, adversely affect co-operatives. The obstacles were indicated by co-operatives themselves in a qualitative research project conducted between September 2017 and March 2018. We offer two possible explanations for the existence of the obstacles: one concerning immaturity of the Croatian institutional system, the other related to cronyism pervading the system. We see bottom-up integration of the co- operative sector, based on the principle of co- operation among co-operatives, as the best way of moving forward.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA