A cooperative is a business jointly owned and democratically controlled by its members, who each hold one vote regardless of investment, distinguishing it from investor-owned firms; the model's modern form traces to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin YearThe Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844 by 28 weavers in England, established the principles most modern cooperatives still follow; mutual-aid and jointly owned arrangements existed earlier, but Rochdale is the conventionally cited origin of the modern model. Core MechanismMembers jointly own and democratically control the enterprise, one member one vote, and economic benefits are distributed proportionally to each member's participation, such as a dividend on purchases or sales, rather than according to capital invested. 1 FAQs
What makes a cooperative different from an investor-owned company?
Each member holds one vote regardless of investment, unlike an investor-owned firm.
A cooperative is jointly owned and democratically controlled by its members, who each hold one vote regardless of how much they have invested, distinguishing it from investor-owned firms where voting power follows ownership stake. The model's modern form traces to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844.
Connections
Associated With
The cooperative model the source defines, a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise meeting members' shared economic needs, is the structure agricultural cooperatives use to pool small producers' bargaining power.
Source Wikipedia, Cooperative
Employee ownership and the cooperative model are the two live alternative-ownership structures that redistribute control to stakeholders beyond outside shareholders, though they differ in mechanism: an equity stake in an existing company versus member ownership from the start.
A mutual insurance company owned by its own policyholders, the member-ownership structure the cooperative business model is defined by.
Source Wikipedia, State Farm
Both models place ownership control outside pure shareholder profit-maximization.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Cooperative
Wikipedialead sectionQuote, lead section
an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise
Wikipedia, State Farm
WikipediaAssociated With: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Infobox: foundedQuote, Associated With: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Infobox: founded
June 7, 1922
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.