PhD (Agricultural Economics) / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / The high attrition rate of cooperatives in Limpopo Province is a great concern considering that cooperatives globally and in South Africa have been esteemed to play a role in rural development and poverty reduction. The problem of attrition is a threat in the development of our societies. In response to this, the study investigated the formation of cooperatives, influence of social, human capital and household characteristics. The study also assessed the differences that can be used to discriminate cooperatives earning monthly income and those without a monthly income. The main aim of the study was to develop a framework that could be used to create sustainable cooperatives in the future in Limpopo Province. The study was conducted in five districts of Limpopo Province namely: Sekhukhune, Waterberg, Mopani, Capricorn and Vhembe. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from 146 cooperatives. Key respondents were cooperatives leaders. Focus group data from Mopani district cooperatives was used to provide a background to the researcher in the development of the framework. Focus group discussion information was only used by the researcher in order to understand the cooperative member’s views. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 146 cooperatives due to the availability and accessibility of the cooperatives. SPSS analytical tool was used to analyse the data. Models used in the study were Binary logistic, Multinomial and Discriminant analysis. The findings of the study revealed that household characteristics such as gender, member affiliation affected the formation of legitimate cooperatives. Social capital indicators such as access to information and benefits derived by relatives encouraged the need for funding. However human capital indicators were found not to influence the need for external funding. The study also discovered that there were major differences between cooperatives earning a monthly income and those without the income. There were various benefits derived from the cooperatives by members. The study concluded that for cooperatives to be sustainable, focus should be on human capital, extension services and improvement of the level of education. The notion is that an informed, trained and educated cooperative society is the future.

El presente trabajo de investigación titulado “EFECTOS DE LA ASOCIATIVIDAD EN LAS EXPORTACIONES DE CAFÉ ORGÁNICO DE LA SELVA CENTRAL DEL PERÚ EN EL PERIODO 2016-2018”, tiene como objetivo determinar los efectos de las cooperativas y asociaciones de la selva central del Perú en la cantidad exportada de café orgánico en el periodo 2016-2018. Su importancia radica entre los efectos de la asociatividad y su influencia en las cantidades exportadas, en vista que se identificó que, en el periodo analizado, los valores de exportación de café orgánico decrecieron en comparación a los años anteriores; sin embargo, la cantidad exportada del mismo producto incrementó en el mismo periodo, siendo las cooperativas y asociaciones quienes tuvieron mayor crecimiento. En el proceso de la investigación se consultó diversas fuentes secundarias vinculadas a los efectos de la asociatividad en las exportaciones, los beneficios de la asociatividad, los obstáculos de la asociatividad, los programas del estado que incentivan las exportaciones y la situación actual de las exportaciones del café orgánico. Esto permitió constituir el marco teórico, marcando las pautas para desarrollar la investigación. El tipo de investigación es cuantitativa, el diseño de la investigación es explicativa transversal simple y no experimental. Asimismo, el cuestionario se aplicó a 32 organizaciones entre cooperativas y asociaciones cafetaleras de la selva central (Satipo, Chanchamayo y Oxapampa), quienes representaron al tamaño de muestra. Para la validación de la hipótesis planteada se utilizó el método estadístico de Chi-Cuadrado de Pearson, la cual fue complementado con la prueba exacto de Fisher para medir su fiabilidad. Por último, los resultados obtenidos del cuestionario aplicado en el presente estudio se validaron que los efectos de la asociatividad influyen en el crecimiento de la cantidad exportada de café orgánico. / The present research work entitled "EFFECTS OF ASSOCIATIVITY ON EXPORTS OF ORGANIC COFFEE FROM THE CENTRAL JUNGLE OF Perú IN THE PERIOD 2016-2018" aims to determine the effects of cooperatives and associations in the central jungle on the quantity of coffee exported organic in the period 2016-2018. Its importance lies between the effects of associativity and its efficient impact on the quantities exported, given that it was identified that, in the period analyzed, the values ​​of exports grew minimally compared to previous years; however, cooperatives and associations increased their exported produced quantity. In the research process, various secondary sources related to the effects of associativity on exports, the benefits of associativity, the obstacles to associativity, the state programs that encourage exports, and the current situation of organic coffee. This allowed to constitute the theoretical framework, setting the guidelines for developing the research. The type of research is quantitative, the research design is explicative, cross-sectional and non-experimental. Likewise, the questionnaire was applied to 32 organizations between cooperatives and coffee associations in the central jungle (Satipo, Chanchamayo and Oxapampa), who represented the sample size. For the validation of the hypothesis presented, the Pearson's Chi-square statistical method was used, which was complemented with the Fisher exact test to measure its reliability. Finally, the results obtained from the questionnaire applied in the present study validated that the effects of associativity influence the growth of the quantity of organic coffee exported. / Tesis

Les coopératives évoluent dans une multitude de régions et de cultures. Plus qu’un élément secondaire, l’aspect culturel et identitaire du développement coopératif est au cœur de ses enjeux de développement et de sa définition-même. En effet, historiquement, l’implantation et le développement des coopératives ont été associés à des réalités identitaires importantes, comme l’illustrent les expériences coopératives acadiennes, basques, québécoises et inuites. Cette thèse étudie l’expérience des 14 coopératives du Nunavik et de leur fédération. Coopératives de consommateurs multiservices, dont les membres sont presque tous Inuit, elles sont l’initiative d’acteurs variés (État, religieux, gérant de magasins). Les premières coopératives ont été mises sur pied à partir de la fin des années 1950 et ont rapidement été gérées par les Inuit eux-mêmes. Venues briser le monopole qu’avait la Compagnie de la Baie-d’Hudson, l’établissement des coopératives au Nunavik correspond également à un changement fondamental dans l’économie et la politique du territoire et des communautés qui y vivent. Grâce à une soixantaine d’entretiens semi-dirigés et plusieurs séjours sur place, cette étude de cas suggestif permet de comprendre la contribution des coopératives membres de la Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec (FCNQ) à la reconnaissance identitaire des personnes et des collectivités touchées par leurs activités. En mobilisant la théorie de la reconnaissance et de la liberté sociale d’Axel Honneth (2000, 2014) et l’approche du triple mouvement coopératif (Draperi, 2007), l’analyse de l’expérience des coopératives du Nunavik révèle des attentes et des effets de reconnaissance associés à la reconnaissance affective, juridique et de la contribution à la société. Ces effets agissent sur différents types de capitaux, par le biais de moyens mis en place par les coopératives. Certaines conditions internes spécifiques aux coopératives influencent également la reconnaissance identitaire des Inuit. Cette thèse contribue à une meilleure compréhension des coopératives en matière de reconnaissance identitaire et culturelle. Elle rend compte de l’imbrication des besoins et aspirations des membres et offre des précisions de définitions quant à ces deux termes centraux aux théories coopératives. De l’expérience des coopératives du Nunavik, on peut dégager le constat que la prise en compte profonde et concomitante des trois mouvements coopératifs (mouvement de pensée, mouvement social et mouvement d’entreprise) produit une reconnaissance identitaire des personnes et des collectivités. Les coopératives constituent un moyen et un lieu de reconnaissance affective (par la réponse aux besoins de base et la mise en place d’un lieu de rencontre), de reconnaissance juridique (par le biais des principes démocratiques, de responsabilisation et des valeurs d’égalité et d’équité) et de reconnaissance des particularités et compétences (par la participation de chacun à la réalisation d’une mission commune et leurs activités d’éducation et de formation). Ultimement, elles permettent aux individus et aux collectivités d’exercer leur liberté sociale et d’assurer le respect de leur dignité. / Cooperatives operate in a multitude of regions and cultures. More than a secondary element, the cultural and identity aspect of cooperative development is at the heart of its development issues and its very definition. Indeed, historically, the establishment and development of cooperatives have been associated with important identity realities, as illustrated by the Acadian, Basque, Quebecois and Inuit cooperative experiences. This thesis studies the experience of the 14 Nunavik cooperatives and their federation. Multiservice consumer cooperatives, whose members are almost all Inuit, they are the initiative of various actors (state, religious, store managers). The first cooperatives were established in the late 1950s and were quickly managed by the Inuit themselves. Coming to break the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company, the establishment of cooperatives in Nunavik also corresponds to a fundamental change in the economy and politics of the territory and the communities that live there. Through some sixty semi-structured interviews and several on-site visits, this suggestive case study allows us to understand the contribution of the member cooperatives of the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec (FCNQ) to the recognition of the persons’ and communities’ identities affected by their activities. By mobilizing Axel Honneth's theory of recognition and social freedom (2000. 2014) and the triple cooperative movement approach (Draperi, 2007), the analysis of the experience of Nunavik cooperatives reveals recognition expectations and effects associated with emotional recognition, legal recognition and the recognition of the contribution to society. These effects act on different types of capital, through means set up by cooperatives. Certain internal conditions specific to cooperatives also influence identity recognition of Inuit. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of cooperatives in terms of identity and cultural recognition. It accounts for the interweaving of the needs and aspirations of members and provides clarification of the definitions of these two central terms of cooperative theories. From the experience of the Nunavik cooperatives, we can see that the profound and concomitant consideration of the three cooperative movements (thought movement, social movement and business movement) produces recognition of the identity of individuals and communities. Cooperatives are a mean and a place of emotional recognition (by responding to basic needs and setting up a meeting place), of legal recognition (by means of democratic principles, mutual responsability and values of equality and equity) and of recognition of particularities and skills (through everyone’s participation in the achievement of a common mission and their education and training activities). Ultimately, they enable individuals and communities to exercise their social freedom and ensure respect of their dignity.

This thesis explores the implementation of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – based text extraction and random forest regression analysis for housing market valuation, specifically focusing on the impact of value factors, derived from OCR-extracted economic values from housing cooperatives’ annual reports. The objective is to perform price estimations using the Random Forest model to identify the key value factors that influence the estimation process and examine how the economic values from annual reports affect the sales price. The thesis aims to highlight the often-overlooked aspect that when purchasing an apartment, one also assumes the liabilities of the housing cooperative. The motivation for utilizing OCR techniques stems from the difficulties associated with manual data collection, as there is a lack of readily accessible structured data on the subject, emphasizing the importance of automation for effective data extraction. The findings indicate that OCR can effectively extract data from annual reports, but with limitations due to variation in report structures. The regression analysis reveals the Random Forest model’s effectiveness in estimating prices, with location and construction year emerging as the most influential factors. Furthermore, incorporating the economic values from the annual reports enhances the accuracy of price estimation compared to the model that excluded such factors. However, definitive conclusions regarding the precise impact of these economic factors could not be drawn due to limited geographical spread of data points and potential hidden value factors. The study concludes that the machine learning model can be used to make a credible price estimate on cooperative apartments and that OCR methods prove valuable in automating data extraction from annual reports, although standardising report format would enhance their efficiency. The thesis highlights the significance of considering the housing cooperatives’ economic values when making property purchases.

No description available.

Within the context of economic history, this case study discusses “separatist cooperation” as an organizational and economic strategy for addressing multiple forms of alienation and inequality. Unique in the European cooperative movement at the time, The Women’s Cooperative Society Swedish Homes (Kvinnornas Andelsförening Svenska Hem), active in Stockholm 1905-1916, is a case in point. Using a theoretical framework drawn from social and economic reconstruction as well as critical perspectives inspired by intersectionality, the study analyzes how arguments, practices and choices of Svenska Hem are manifested in terms of three themes/strategies of de-alienation: democratic participation, asset-building and narrative representation. Cutting through each of these themes/strategies, explicit and implicit conceptions of gender, class and group solidarity are critically analyzed. The results show that the separatist strategy in combination with cooperative organizing generated considerable movement energy and capital accumulation e.g. in the face of an organized boycott from competing (male) traders. Further, the women’s cooperative constituted a space for asset-building while negotiating the changing social role of women generally and housewives in particular. The analysis shows that Svenska Hem’s organization and narrative was marked by class bias, while striving to become a cooperative relevant to “women of all classes”, invoking the housewife-as-consumer as a collective with a shared interest.

This research investigates the values and principles of cooperatives in relation to regenerative development and evaluates how these principles can be applied to foster SDD on Gotland. As alternative economies, cooperatives represent an opportunity to facilitate a regenerative type of development that is needed to face the issues brought by the capitalist system and the tourism industry. These many challenges were exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis and emphasised the need to find new understandings of the tourism industry and of the way business is carried out in our societies. The evidence gathered from seven semi-structured interviews with the members of a Gotland’s cooperative was analysed in relation to frameworks of values and principles of regenerative development and tourism. Based on the findings and the theoretical background, four Cooperative Principles for Regenerative Development [CPRD] were derived and their potential application for SDD argued. The CPRD include the Support of entrepreneurs, the Commitment and good intent to carry out projects for the community’s wellbeing, Cooperation among stakeholders, associations, and GUBIS companies, and the Contribution to create a healthy, lively, and liveable society. In relation to SDD, the principles can be applied by supporting tourism stakeholder and entrepreneurs so that they can find convergence points among themselves, co-creating across multiple domains to catalyse positive system effects. Additionally, the CPRD can foster SDD by facilitating a discourse about alternative types of exchanges that evolves around an holistic type of economic development that is embedded in the natural ecosystem and is based on circularity and inclusivity.

The relationship between the role of leadership and agricultural cooperatives performance were examined in East, West and South Ethiopia. The hypotheses were tested in a survey of N=162 leaders, managers and directors of primary coffee farmers cooperatives. The results of the test confirmed the overall positive relationship between the role of leadership and agricultural cooperatives performances. This study highlights and gives general view into how the role of leadership can significantly contribute to cooperatives business performances. The results and findings of the analysis indicated that leaders who are most effective at business performances are those who utilize leadership behavior and the skills and trainings required in the cooperatives business organizations. The study encourages further and comprehensive research into the interconnection between the role of leadership, education and skills of leaders, financial management knowledge and decision making competency. The study followed cross-sectional survey design, and employed evaluative quantitative analysis method. The analysis was based on primary data generated through a structured questionnaire distributed to the respondents. Responses to research statements were scaled and converted to analyze the quantitative data of dependent and independent variables based on the role of leadership and associated performance variables. The findings from correlation and multiple regressions in testing the hypotheses showed that there are significant and positive relationship between each of the five independent variables and a dependent variable of business performances. The study concluded that leadership role was very important in cooperatives business performance and, therefore, recommended that leaders of coffee farmers’ cooperatives organizations that wanted to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their businesses performances need to implement the suggestions stated in the recommendation part of this study about the leadership roles. / Business Management / DBL

The North End is one of the most colourful areas in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plagued by urban decay, the North End is a melting pot of cultures and catch basin for many marginalized people. In the face of adversity, people unite under similar ideals and principles to work towards common goals. This unity is exemplified in co-operatives, which has been in the North End for decades. Co-ops exhibited outstanding camaraderie with the goal of alleviating adverse social conditions. Today, the co-op sector, exemplified by Pollock’s Hardware and Urban Eatin’ Landscapes, continue to operate in the area like conventional business, while practicing social and environmental responsibility under a common set of principles. Due to their ideologies and principles, their impact on neighbourhood and community revitalization is more profound than expected. Through case studies, this research found that co-ops offer urban planners and government officials a complimentary method to conventional urban revitalization methods. Co-operative Urban Revitalization starts by uniting marginalized people and empowering them to devise solutions to social and economic problems. / February 2017

Este trabalho propõe-se a estudar, mediante abordagem teórica e prática, o regime jurídico das debêntures, tendo em vista as recentes alterações introduzidas pela Lei nº 12.431, de 24 de junho de 2011, que promoveu mudanças significativas em sua disciplina, bem como examinar os problemas e questões atuais das debêntures em um contexto evolutivo da doutrina e dos casos práticos que lhe são submetidos à análise, tendo em vista o uso cada vez mais frequente desse mecanismo de financiamento das sociedades. Busca-se, também, examinar o funcionamento do mercado de debêntures e as novas propostas para incentivar a circulação dos títulos de dívida. Dentre as questões mais controvertidas a serem estudadas neste trabalho, destacam-se as seguintes: (i) evolução da natureza jurídica do instituto, em que as debêntures são vistas como títulos de dívida pertencentes à categoria dos valores mobiliários; (ii) criação do novo mercado de debêntures, como avanço à proposta do Novo Mercado de Renda Fixa; (iii) possibilidade de emissão de debêntures por sociedades limitadas e cooperativas, em razão da ausência de vedação legal e da existência de normas que lhe dão suporte jurídico; (iv) realização de negócios jurídicos com debêntures que vão além da sua função econômica de financiamento da empresa; (v) existência da organização dos debenturistas, em complemento à ideia de comunhão de interesses, tendo em vista o seu caráter orgânico; e, por fim, (vi) se os deveres fiduciários dos administradores se voltariam também aos interesses dos debenturistas, como credores especiais da sociedade emitente. / This work aims to study, through a theoretical and practical approach, the legal system of debentures in view of the recent changes introduced by Law No. 1431, of June 24, 2011, affecting significantly their discipline, and also to examine their current problems and issues within the evolutionary context of the doctrine and the case studies that are submitted to analysis, since the use of this financing mechanism by companies has been increasingly frequent. It also seeks to examine the functioning of the debenture market and the new proposals to stimulate the circulation of debt bonds. Amongst the most controversial issues to be studied in this work, the following are highlighted: (i) the evolution of the legal nature of this institute, in which debentures are seen as debt notes pertaining to the category of securities; (ii) the creation of a new debenture market as an advancement to the proposal of the New Fixed Income Market; (iii) the possibility of limited partnerships and cooperatives issuing debentures in view of the absence of a legal prohibition and the existence of norms that give legal support to it; (iv) the consummation of legal transactions with debentures that go beyond their economic function of business financing; (v) the existence of a debenture holder organization as a complement to the idea of pooling of interests, in view of its organic character; and, finally, (vi) whether the fiduciary duties of the administrators would also accommodate the interests of the debenture holders, while in their position of special creditors to the issuing business.