Carlo Borzaga

The Role of Cooperative and Social Enterprises: A Multifaceted Approach for an Economic Pluralism

he role of cooperative and social enterprises in contemporary market economies has been downplayed and marginalised to date by the dominant economic approaches. This insufficient attention (Kalmi, 2008 su Cambridge Journal of Economics) derives from the limited applicability of the main assumptions of microeconomic to the case of cooperative and social enterprises. We mainly refer to models. the assumption of self-seeking individuals and of profit maximisation as the only possible firm objective. The mismatch between theoretical assumptions and empirical evidence has led to the underestimation of the growth potential, weight and role of cooperative and social enterprises. We maintain that the improvement of the scientific understanding of cooperative and social enterprises requires to enlarge and deepen the assumption of the relevant theoretical models. Individuals cannot be characterised any more as purely self-interested. Instead, the importance of motivational complexity, and the diverse nature of preferences needs to be introduced in the model as suggested by the behavioural approach. Furthermore, firms cannot be interpreted any more in an exclusive way as profit maximizers. They are instead coordination mechanisms of the economic activity, as suggested by the evolutionary approach. To this end they develop specific organisational routines, and their objectives can be diverse, ranging from purely private appropriation, to mutual benefit based on reciprocity, to public benefit aim supported by other-regarding preferences. (Le teorie economiche dominanti, ed in particolare li?½approccio ortodosso e quello neo-istituzionalista, hanno sottostimato e marginalizzato il ruolo delle cooperative e delle imprese sociali nei mercati economici contemporanei. Li?½insufficiente attenzione a queste organizzazioni deriva principalmente dalli?½impossibiliti?½ di applicare ad esse le assunzioni principali della teoria microeconomica ortodossa, ossia la presenza di individui auto-interessati e di organizzazioni che puntino solo alla massimizzazione del profitto. Anche la teoria neo-istituzionalista non riesce a spiegare la presenza e la crescita del ruolo ricoperto da cooperative e imprese sociali. Per questa ragione, il presente paper i?½ volto a dimostrare come, per spiegare il ruolo di cooperative ed imprese sociali da un punto di vista scientifico, i principali modelli teorici economici debbano essere estesi. Innanzitutto, tanto gli individui quanto le istituzioni non possono essere pii?½ assunti come soggetti meramente egoistici, ma ne vanno studiate la complessiti?½ motivazionale e le strutture di preferenze, cosi?½ come proposto dalla teoria comportamentale (behavioural economics). Inoltre, le imprese devono essere concepite come meccanismi di coordinamento delle attiviti?½ economiche, come suggerito dalli?½approccio evoluzionista, e devono quindi esserne analizzate le specifiche routine organizzative sviluppate al loro interno e gli obiettivi organizzativi, i quali possono variare tra gli interessi di appropriazione privata dei profitti ed obiettivi pro-sociali sostenuti da preferenze altruistiche.

Europe in Transition: The Role of Social Cooperatives and Social Enterprises

The European social model has always been characterized by the active role played in the production of goods and services by a variety of organizations that differ both from private corporations and public institutions. These are private organizations that, while active on the market, typically pursue goals other than profit: their main purpose is not to generate financial gains for their owners or stakeholders but to provide goods and services either to their members or to the community at large. Traditionally, these organizations have been included in the concept of “social economy”. This paper describes the role of social enterprises and social cooperatives as a type of economic, non-profit organization that is assuming an increasingly central role in Europe (as shown for example by the Social Business Initiative, recently launched by the European Commission), by contributing to its economic and social growth. More generally, the paper intends to reflect on the economic and social impacts of social enterprises and social cooperatives in local economies, while some final remarks conclude by identifying some lessons supplied by Italian social cooperatives on a broader scale.

La cooperazione sociale: rilevanza economica ed occupazionale e sua evoluzione tra il 2008 ed il 2013

In poco piu di vent’anni la cooperazione sociale italiana e diventata uno dei principali attori delle politiche sociali, sia come gestore di servizi sociali ed educativi che nell’inserimento lavorativo di soggetti svantaggiati. Di recente tuttavia sono stati in molti a mettere in dubbio la sopravvivenza di queste organizzazioni, soprattutto a seguito delle crescenti difficolta finanziarie delle amministrazioni locali che ne sono i principali, anche se non esclusivi, finanziatori. Diventa quindi interessante verificare come si sono comportate queste imprese nel corso della crisi. Cio e possibile utilizzando i dati di bilancio e quelli sulle posizioni lavorative. I risultati dell’analisi sono sorprendenti: tra il 2008 e il 2013, cioe nel pieno della crisi, le cooperative sociali hanno mostrato indicatori economici tutti positivi tranne che per il margine di gestione. Fatturato, occupazione, redditi da lavoro, investimenti e patrimonio sono cresciuti in modo significativo, facendo della cooperazione social italiana un soggetto rilevante non solo per il valore sociale dei servizi offerti, ma anche per la capacita di creare reddito e occupazione

Co-operatives Providing Welfare Services: The Case of Italian Social Co-operatives

Over the past four decades, many countries have significantly transformed government welfare policies. Starting in the 1970s, through a series of concerted actions, governments have tried to address the increasing difficulties faced in maintaining welfare systems, including decentralizing welfare services (largely delegated to local authorities), limiting opportunistic behaviours on the part of welfare recipients, and involving private actors in providing social services (Defourny and Nyssens 2008).

The Adoption of a New Legal Framework with Reference to Local Social Enterprises in Italy: The Impact of Managerial Operations and New Trends

Recognizing the social enterprises that have developed in Italy has been quite a long and complex process. It began with a law passed in on social cooperatives, which was progressively amended by a number of provisions that allow nonprofit organizations meeting certain criteria to engage in production activities. A general legal definition of social enterprises was introduced in a second law passed in 2005. This legislation was formally ratified when a third law was passed 2006. nUnderstanding the relevance of social enterprises in Italy and the impact of the original law on their development requires a broad understanding of the evolution of this phenomenon. This understanding can be facilitated by a general description of the political and economic background and the historical development of these productive nonprofit organizations. nThe authors describe the main content of the new legislation, allowing a comparison of the legal definition of characteristics of nonprofit organizations with the features of existing social enterprises. To uncover the potential of Italian social enterprises, they describe the evolution of the NPO using recent data and examples of new trends.