Co-operatives continue to grow and thrive in many countries, despite the dire predictions of traditional economics, which heralds their dis-appearance or at least marginalization. This short-sighted approach depends on at least three limitations: 1) the assumption that there are only two mechanisms for co-ordinating economic agents — market and authority; 2) the importance given to the motivation of self-interest in economic transactions; and 3) a concept of entrepreneurial action reduced to the profit motive.
These limitations must be overcome if we are to develop a new approach to the economics of co-operatives that will help us achieve a new and more useful understanding of these organizations.This presentation will explore a number of alternatives that challenge traditional economic thinking, culminating in the suggestion that spontaneous co-operation can be seen as the dominant, though not exclusive, co-ordinating mechanism of co-operative enterprises. It also suggests that co-operatives can be more efficient than other entrepreneurial forms and can contribute to the generation of higher social welfare than that achieved by conventional public and private enterprises.
Please Note: Reception to follow in the River Room, Diefenbaker Building. One 990 Credit
Event Details
- When:
- Time:
- 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM CST
- Location:
- Prairie Room, Diefenbaker Building, University of Saskatchewan Campus; Video-Conference to Room 210, 2 Research Drive, University of Regina Campus
- File:
- Event Details