The co-operative as institution for human development : the case study of COPPALJ, a primary co-operative in Maranhao State, Brazil

Abstract

In a mood of reassessing the role of co-operative enterprises as a tool for fighting poverty both from the academic community and the international organisations, the thesis aims at contributing to the understanding of the added value of the co-operative form of business especially in a people-centred development setting. In particular, in applying the human development and capability approach to co-operative economics and therefore by linking co-operatives to the concept of well-being, the thesis contributes to shifting the co-operative thinking beyond the homo oeconomicus rational choice perspective bringing it closer to the reason why people adhere to collective livelihood strategies, thus providing greater insight for policies and practice. The case study on COPPALJ -a Brazilian primary co-operative located in Maranhão State - is aimed at evaluating the impact of co-operative membership on member well-being as well as on community development. Adopting both econometric (namely propensity score matching) and participatory methods, it offers a valuable methodology both for the impact assessment and for understanding in depth the democraticity of the co-operative process. In such a way, this methodology aims at contributing to overcoming the evaluation of co-operative performance based only on monetary indicators, and instead, enhancing the concrete contribution that co-operatives can bring to human development and poverty reduction.