ABSTRACT
The Fund for Education and Interco-operative Promotion supports professional training and R & D to raise the technological capacity of co-operatives and the Central Interco-operation Fund invests in strategic projects with high growth potential, restructuring organisations, supporting innovation and creating synergies between existing and new-start co-operatives. M. Mendell argues that Chantier adopted a flexible definition of the social economy in order to create a broadly based coalition, prioritise solidarity values and place an emphasis on innovative grassroots movements. Moreover, the period of post-war economic autarky also provided protection for domestic and localised markets to grow and for vulnerable enterprise models to incubate more securely. Domestic consumption, living standards and salary levels all increased, fuelling demand for household appliances, a key component of the Basque economy. Mondragon also reorganised its governance systems outside the Basque Country and adopted a code of ethics for its foreign enterprises.
