ABSTRACT
The co-operative is an active community of equal individuals or groups who come together to achieve a common and concrete economic objective. The success of co-operatives has to date been based on their performance through and for their members. A modest sum of basic capital, necessary for most co-operatively organised activities, is raised by means of members’ admission fees and the distribution of share certificates. European countries and most non-European countries have passed laws concerning co-operatives based on common law traditions which also define the term “co-operative”. Working in the framework of the legal regulations, co-operatives give themselves statutes for internal organisation. Co-operatively organised companies have problems asserting themselves rationally in the marketplace against hierarchically structured companies. The state of societal development is crucial in determining the use and application of certain co-operative forms. Co-operatives as social security institutions in any case guarantee mutuality and group help to self-help for both strong and weak and rich and poor members.
