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Co-operative Entrepreneurship in Belgium
Co-operatives are rarely a topic for scientific research, both in Belgium and abroad. Therefore, the primary objective of our research centre is to study this 'blind spot' in scientific research.
- Mapping Co-operative Entrepreurship in Belgium
Our research on co-operative entrepreneurship in Belgium (including focus groups and a survey on accredited co-operatives in Belgium) has recently led to the publication of a book 'Co-operative Entrepreneurship in Belgium: theory and practice', published both in Dutch and in French. This book contains contributions of our scholarly partners from the Cera Chair (CES, HEC-ULg) as well. At this moment, we are reporting some of our research results in English as well, so keep an eye on our working papers series.
Next to this, we contribute to the monitoring of co-operatives in the field of social insertion. Therefore, we collaborate with researchers from the Research Centre on Work and Social Economy (Steunpunt WSE).
- Market Niches for Co-operative Entrepreneurship in Belgium
Why don't we see Belgian co-operatives in some activity domains, whereas in other countries co-operatives are abundantly present in these same activities? Why do we see that co-operatives are a successfull formula to address specific socio-economic problems in one activity domain, whereas actors in other activity domains do not make use of co-operatives to address the very same problems? Starting from these two questions, our research centre analyses potential market niches for co-operative entrepreneurship in Belgium. Examples of such market niches can be found in health and social care, education, social insertion, regional economic development, tourism, the social-cultural sector, sports, retail trade and wholesale trade.
- Bottlenecks for Co-operative Entrepreneurship in Belgium
Co-operatives are not only a blind spot in research, but also in legislative work, in education, in business schools, etc. Therefore, our research centre studies specific bottlenecks, both for existing co-operatives as for organisations that may turn into co-operatives if these bottlenecks would not exist.
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Co-operatives versus Corporate Social Responsibility
It is often said that co-operative entrepreneurship is some form of "CSR avant-la-lettre". An inflation of CSR-communication during the last decade made it more difficult to co-operatives, however, to communicate the co-operative difference. Our research centre does research on the extent and the way co-operatives have a comparative advantage in implementing CSR in their businesses.
Next to this, our research centre performs an analysis of CSR composite indicators. Aside from bringing more structure into these tools, assessing their analytical properties and making clear what we can learn from it (and what we should not), we assess to what extent a composite indicator on co-operative entrepreneurship can be developped.
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The Economic Analysis of Co-operative Entrepreneurship
Economic theory has been neglecting co-operatives for at least 50 years. Apart from some theory building on agricultural co-operatives and worker co-ops, very few research has been done in this area. Therefore, we try to make some contributions to this field. More specifically, we focus on:
- The Comparative Organisational Performance of Co-operatives, Compared to Nonprofits, Outside Ownership and the State.
- Law and economics analysis of legal frameworks for co-operative and social entrepreneurship
- Economic analysis of the co-operative principles: what, why and for whom?
- Heterogeneity of Membership and the Construction of Co-operative Identity.
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