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Abstract
For the past three decades, neoclassical doctrine has dominated economic theory and policy. The balance of power has shifted to protect private interests, resulting in unprecedented damage to the environment and society, with no solution in sight as more austerity and less government continues to be posited as the answer to the oncoming waves of crisis.
It doesn't have to be this way. Featuring a remarkable roster of internationally renowned critical thinkers, Co-operatives in a Post-Growth Era presents a feasible alternative for a more environmentally sustainable and equitable economic system - specifically, the co-operative business model. With more than 100 million people working in co-operatives and more than a billion members around the world, the time has never been better for co-operatives everywhere to recognise their potential to change the economic landscape.
An essential book for students, policymakers and concerned citizens looking for a practical way to change the current stagnant economic paradigm.
'More than ever, the world needs economic systems whose objectives are not to make a small fraction of humanity monetarily rich but, rather, to build a more inclusive society where quality of life for all is the metric of success. Co-operatives have proven track records of generating just such outcomes. The ideas presented in this publication can serve to further our understanding of the possibilities and challenges associated with unleashing the power of a healthier view of sustainable economics.'
Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO, The Co-operators, Canada
'This collective work brings very useful insights on how cooperatives, in a plural economy, can help build a better world and reach sustainable prosperity. A must read for those who wants to learn about the cooperative model and its economics.'
Monique F. Leroux, chair of the board, president and chief executive officer, Desjardins Group
'This is an outstanding collection of new economics, reflecting a growing and creative body of work on the practice and the theory of a more inclusive and authentically sustainable economy.'
Ed Mayo, secretary general, Co-operatives UK
'When markets fail, co-operatives bring needed products and services, competition and opportunity for people. Building a global co-operative economy will ensure fewer economic crises and greater food security around the world.'
Paul Hazen, executive director of US Overseas Cooperative Development Council and former CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association
'Co-operative leaders need to understand the economy from a perspective that is consistent with their purpose, values and principles. Neoclassical economics is off the mark in too many ways. These chapters provide a more realistic reading of the economy and will be helpful in understanding the challenges we face and how best we can contribute to making this a better world through co-operative action.'
Dame Pauline Green, president, International Co-operative Alliance
'Imagine 2012 was an acmé for the International Summit of Co-operatives during the International Year of Co-operatives. The recent financial crisis revealed much disarray in our ability to foresee our future and Imagine has been the silver lining behind the cloud for those who believe that co-ops are enterprises to build a better world.'
Jean Louis Bancel, president of Crédit Coopératif, chair of International Cooperative Banks Association, and member of the board of International Cooperative Alliance
'The co-operative model provides a most effective institutional mechanism of addressing the development challenges of the African continent on a sustainable basis. Co-operatives can simultaneously promote wealth creation, poverty alleviation and more equitable distribution of resources. The poor don’t need sympathy or pity; they need empowerment and dignity that true co-operatives facilitate through bringing the marginalized population into the mainstream of socio-economic activity. The ideas about economics in this book will help co-operative leaders move co-operative development forward.'
Nelson Kuria, CEO, Co-operative Insurance Company, Kenya
'A unique collection of essays that offers both theoretical arguments and practical insights into how co-operatives can provide the basis for a more socially and environmentally sustainable economy. This should be required reading for all students in business and economics, and a must read for all interested in the future of the planet.'
Professor Darryl Reed, York University Canada
'The timing of this book is perfect! The findings from the 2012 Imagine Conference summarise ways to create prosperity and stability in this new economic, social and environmental reality. Leading economic thinkers provide critical insights in how the co-operative enterprise model meets the growing complex global problems while building a better world. Kudos to Tom Webb and Sonja Novkovic for making this happen.'
Denyse Guy, executive director, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada
Sonja Novkovic is a professor of economics at Saint Mary’s University, and academic co-director in the Co-operative Management Education programme. Currently, she is the chair of the International Co-operative Alliance Research Committee and academic co-lead of the Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network in collaboration with Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada.
Tom Webb is an adjunct professor at Saint Mary’s University School of Business and former programme manager of the master’s degree in the Management of Co-operatives and Credit Unions (MMCCU).
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Cover | Front cover | ||
| About the Editors | i | ||
| More praise for Co-operatives in a Post-Growth Era | ii | ||
| Title Page\r | iii | ||
| Copyright\r | iv | ||
| Contents\r | v | ||
| Tables and Figures | vii | ||
| Introduction: Co-operative Economics, Why Our World Needs It | 1 | ||
| Table 0.1 Types of co-operative and their members | 3 | ||
| What economics do we use? | 6 | ||
| The structure of the book | 9 | ||
| Notes | 10 | ||
| References | 10 | ||
| Part One: What is the New Economy and Why Do We Need It? | 13 | ||
| 1 The World on a Collision Course and the Need for a New Economy | 15 | ||
| Preamble | 15 | ||
| The quadruple convergence | 16 | ||
| Crisis or crises? | 17 | ||
| The myths that sustain the dominant model | 18 | ||
| A new economy | 22 | ||
| Foundations of the new economy | 23 | ||
| Table 1.1 Matrix of needs and satisfiers | 26 | ||
| Figure 1.1 Genuine Progress Indicators and Indices of Sustainable Economic Welfare for selected countries | 29 | ||
| Figure 1.2 The classic approach to the economic process | 31 | ||
| Figure 1.3 The ecological economic approach | 32 | ||
| Figure 1.4 Humanity’s ecological footprint, 1961–2001 | 34 | ||
| Table 1.2 World population, per capita income and number of ecosons | 36 | ||
| Table 1.3 The real size of the United States | 36 | ||
| Notes | 37 | ||
| References | 37 | ||
| 2 The New Economy | 39 | ||
| Introduction | 39 | ||
| Scale and growth – or not? | 41 | ||
| Table 2.1 Six possible scenarios | 42 | ||
| Issues of resource scarcity and quality | 43 | ||
| The meaning for economic theory – and production | 45 | ||
| Using prices to achieve goals | 46 | ||
| Work | 49 | ||
| The ideal economy | 51 | ||
| How standard wage theory must adapt | 53 | ||
| Conclusions | 55 | ||
| Notes | 60 | ||
| References | 60 | ||
| 3 The World We Need | 61 | ||
| Figure 3.1 Income per head and life expectancy in rich and poor countries | 62 | ||
| Figure 3.2 Real income per head and life expectancy | 63 | ||
| Figure 3.3 Child well-being is not related to average incomes in rich countries | 66 | ||
| Figure 3.4 Health and social problems are not related to average incomes in rich countries | 67 | ||
| Figure 3.5 Health is not related to income differences between rich societies | 68 | ||
| Figure 3.6 Health is related to income difference within rich societies | 69 | ||
| Figure 3.7 Child well-being is better in more equal rich societies | 70 | ||
| Figure 3.8 Health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries | 71 | ||
| Notes | 80 | ||
| References | 80 | ||
| 4 Are Prosperity and Sustainability Compatible? | 83 | ||
| Introduction: on the nature of prosperity and sustainability | 83 | ||
| What makes us unsustainable? | 84 | ||
| Our excessive ecological footprint | 87 | ||
| Box 4.1. The human ecological footprint – in overshoot | 87 | ||
| Human potential subverted | 88 | ||
| Facing the new reality | 92 | ||
| What to do? Towards a co-operative model for global sustainability | 92 | ||
| The spectrum of behavioural possibilities | 94 | ||
| Table 4.1 Elements of the human behavioural spectrum | 94 | ||
| Implications for economic life | 95 | ||
| Table 4.2 The shift in economic values and assumptions (getting better is better than getting bigger) | 95 | ||
| Epilogue | 97 | ||
| Notes | 98 | ||
| References | 99 | ||
| 5 Living Well: Explorations into the End of Growth | 101 | ||
| Introduction | 101 | ||
| Exploring alternatives to economic growth | 103 | ||
| The LowGrow model | 104 | ||
| Figure 5.1 The high-level structure of LowGrow | 106 | ||
| Figure 5.2 Business as usual | 108 | ||
| Figure 5.3 A low- or no-growth scenario | 108 | ||
| Policy directions for a low- or no-growth scenario | 109 | ||
| Notes | 113 | ||
| References | 114 | ||
| 6 Complexity: Shock, Innovation and Resilience | 115 | ||
| Introduction | 115 | ||
| Examples of shock | 115 | ||
| Figure 6.1 Deepwater Horizon | 116 | ||
| Figure 6.2 July temperature anomalies in Moscow since 1950 | 117 | ||
| Figure 6.3 National income: change from the previous year | 118 | ||
| Figure 6.4 National income: percentage change from the previous year | 118 | ||
| The causes of shock | 120 | ||
| Figure 6.5 Converging stresses | 121 | ||
| Figure 6.6 Global risks map, 2012 | 122 | ||
| Figure 6.7 June–July–August temperature anomaly distribution, 1951–2011 | 124 | ||
| Figure 6.8 Multiple equilibria | 126 | ||
| From risk to uncertainty | 128 | ||
| Resilience | 129 | ||
| Figure 6.9 Shock and innovation | 130 | ||
| What we can do | 131 | ||
| Note | 132 | ||
| References | 132 | ||
| 7 Finance for the Anthropocene | 134 | ||
| Introduction | 134 | ||
| The art of finance | 135 | ||
| Figure 7.1 Interdependent embedded hierarchies | 137 | ||
| Real investment | 138 | ||
| The monetary system | 142 | ||
| The financialisation of the economy | 146 | ||
| Figure 7.2 After 1980, financial asset growth accelerated | 147 | ||
| Figure 7.3 Interest rate derivatives, 1987–2008 | 148 | ||
| Conclusion: a challenge to our belief system and implications for reform | 150 | ||
| Notes | 152 | ||
| References | 152 | ||
| Part Two: Co-operatives and the New Economy | 155 | ||
| 8 Choices, Incentives and Co-operative Organisation | 157 | ||
| Co-operatives and investor-owned enterprises: what is the difference? | 159 | ||
| How to facilitate co-operation? | 161 | ||
| Two propositions | 164 | ||
| What are the challenges for the co-operative movement today? | 166 | ||
| A paradigm shift | 171 | ||
| In lieu of a conclusion | 172 | ||
| Notes | 174 | ||
| References | 174 | ||
| 9 Are Co-operatives a Viable Business Form? Lessons from Behavioural Economics | 176 | ||
| Introduction | 176 | ||
| Behavioural economics and co-operative organisations | 181 | ||
| Figure 9.1 Unit production costs and the costs of being co-operative | 184 | ||
| Extending a behavioural model of co-operative organisations | 186 | ||
| Figure 9.2 Surplus in profit-maximising co-operatives and hierarchical firms | 188 | ||
| Conclusion | 191 | ||
| References | 192 | ||
| 10 The Co-operative Enterprise: A Valid Alternative for a Balanced Society | 194 | ||
| Introduction | 194 | ||
| Physical capital’s strategic importance to industrial development during the age of Fordism | 197 | ||
| The crowding-out effect of capitalist economic power | 198 | ||
| The crowding-out effect of the state-based alternative | 200 | ||
| Dependent employment and hierarchical governance | 201 | ||
| The rise of the service economy and the emergence of new spaces for co-operation | 204 | ||
| Concluding remarks | 206 | ||
| Notes | 207 | ||
| References | 208 | ||
| 11 Employee Ownership and Health: An Initial Study | 210 | ||
| Introduction | 210 | ||
| Background | 211 | ||
| Theory: the evolution of humanity | 211 | ||
| Hypothesis | 213 | ||
| Figure 11.1 Differences between Cooptown and Normaltown | 215 | ||
| Figure 11.2 Death rates in Cooptown and Normaltown | 217 | ||
| Figure 11.3 The mortality–co-operative relationship | 218 | ||
| Conclusion | 219 | ||
| Note | 219 | ||
| References | 219 | ||
| 12 Co-operatives in a Global Economy: Key Issues, Recent Trends and Potential for Development | 221 | ||
| Introduction | 221 | ||
| Co-operatives, unemployment and economic crises | 223 | ||
| Table 12.1 Co-operatives in selected countries | 224 | ||
| Table 12.2 Co-operatives and job creation, 1976–81: increase in employment | 225 | ||
| Figure 12.1 Employment in Italy in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2007–11 | 225 | ||
| Figure 12.2 Employment in France in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2005–11 | 226 | ||
| Figure 12.3 Employment in Germany in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2003–10 | 227 | ||
| Figure 12.4 Employment in Spain in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2004–10 | 228 | ||
| Figure 12.5 Employment in Canada in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2000–08 | 229 | ||
| Figure 12.6 Employment in Quebec in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2001–09 | 229 | ||
| Figure 12.7 Survival of co-operatives and for-profit firms in Quebec | 230 | ||
| Table 12.3 Co-operative survival in Quebec: survival probability | 230 | ||
| Table 12.4 Co-operative survival in Alberta | 231 | ||
| Figure 12.8 Employment in Colombia in the co-operative sector and in the economy as a whole, 2000–10 | 231 | ||
| Figure 12.9 Total co-operative entries and exits in Chile, 1990–2005 | 232 | ||
| 12.10 Co-operative entries and the institutional environment in Chile,1960–2006 | 232 | ||
| Co-operatives and long-term growth | 234 | ||
| Conclusion | 237 | ||
| Notes | 238 | ||
| References | 239 | ||
| 13 A Role for Co-operatives in Governance of Common-Pool Resources and Common Property Systems | 242 | ||
| The Workshop | 243 | ||
| The challenge: how to frame the problem | 245 | ||
| Rules as institutional arrangements | 247 | ||
| ‘Discovering’ polycentricity | 248 | ||
| Conclusion | 259 | ||
| Notes | 261 | ||
| References | 261 | ||
| 14 Is the Debt Trap Avoidable? | 264 | ||
| Introduction | 264 | ||
| A truly global crisis | 264 | ||
| The global financial crisis as a debt trap | 269 | ||
| Why so much debt in the real economy? | 272 | ||
| Resilience of co-operatives in times of crisis and their contribution to the future | 274 | ||
| Conclusions | 278 | ||
| Notes | 281 | ||
| References | 282 | ||
| Conclusion | 285 | ||
| Setting the stage | 285 | ||
| Shaping the new economy | 287 | ||
| Co-operatives and the ‘new economy’ | 288 | ||
| Conclusion | 294 | ||
| Co-operative economics? | 296 | ||
| Notes | 297 | ||
| References | 298 | ||
| About the Contributors | 300 | ||
| Index | 303 | ||
| Back Cover | Back cover |