Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-140). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The unity of Western Europe has not yet approached the political, economic and religious entity realized under the Roman Empire. Nor is it likely to duplicate such a centralized and authoritative basis of organization. It is the purpose of this paper to explore European economic association on the basis of co-operation rather than dominance. For this purpose historical cornerstones of economic co-operation and commercial endeavor will be discussed. ... Among them the individuals and groups who pursued trade not only revived the collapsed commerce known to the Roman world, but provided the framework for modern commercial and financial activity and cooperation. Their motives were, no doubt, selfish, since basic human self-interest is a commanding force. The results, however, were liberating, both socially and politically, as well as economically. Thus the Medieval commercial heritage is enjoyed not only in the lands of North and West Europe, but in the Western Hemisphere as well today. It seems singularly important in explaining political as well as economic developments of the twentieth century.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of co-operative societies on poverty alleviation among the urban poor in Zimbabwe with particular reference to consumer co-operative societies in areas of agriculture, housing and micro- finance. The co-operative sector plays an important role in poverty alleviation since many unemployed people have turned to co-operative activities as a way of earning a lawful and decent living during a period in which Zimbabwe generally suffered immense impoverishment in the midst of the national economic meltdown that was characterised by hyper-inflation, de-industrialisation and mass unemployment. The period of study was as from January 2008 to August 2010. This period is significant in that many co-operative societies were formed with the following broad objectives: (a) economic power and through this power; (b) control of socio-economic institution, to eliminate exploitation of man by man to make the people of Zimbabwe self reliant; (c) skills management, goods and services and establish in themselves a sense of confidence, initiative and high development aspirations; (d) to provide an opportunity to develop the community; and a (e) collective way of living that provides a sound base for socialism and national solidarity ix In this study, two hundred and seventy four respondents were used as research subjects. This consisted of one hundred and sixty respondents from housing, twenty four from micro- finance, and eighty eight from agricultural co-operative societies which covered dairy, poultry and fishing co-operative societies. This also included the Registrar of Co-operatives and the Harare City Council Co-operative officer. The research instruments that were used for the purpose of this research study were questionnaires, field visits, interviews and observations. Use was also made of secondary data that was obtained from the offices of Registrar of Co-operatives and the Town clerk of the Harare City Council as well as from the various co-operative societies that constitute the research study’s sample. The key factors that account for the failure of co-operative societies included the lack of adequate funding, lack of relevant knowledge and experience about co-operative activities, conflict among co-operative society members, failure to follow co-operative principles, mixing politics with co-operative activities and lack of education and training. The study also found out that the key to the success of any co-operative venture includes some of the following factors: Proper application of co-operative principles, the provision of co-operative education to both the membership and management of co-operative societies and proper keeping of institutional records. Most important of which include membership, financial and asset registers. x The study recommends that the government should give adequate administrative and financial support to co-operative societies since they have a potential of alleviating poverty if properly managed. It is also further recommended that research be done in order to enhance the strategic management of co-operative societies since empirical evidence tends to suggest that they are a viable tool for broad –based participatory and democratic sustainable livelihoods development. The study also recommended further studies to be carried out on the applicability of cooperative principles in all environments since some co-operative societies that have followed these principles especially in the developed countries have proved to be suitable instruments for poverty alleviation.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T21:00:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 Rafael Augusto Fernandes Biral.pdf.jpg: 2076 bytes, checksum: f3adc1ad9d09413ef7139e48848c0480 (MD5) Rafael Augusto Fernandes Biral.pdf.txt: 81485 bytes, checksum: 4467e4c22736a58996fcde0fddf730a4 (MD5) license.txt: 4712 bytes, checksum: 4dea6f7333914d9740702a2deb2db217 (MD5) Rafael Augusto Fernandes Biral.pdf: 351620 bytes, checksum: 576d312165e54562a3d0329bab70c5c0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-10T00:00:00Z / This study investigates the change in operational performance of Brazilian companies that went the public in Brazil in the period between 2004 and 2008, using a methodology never applied to the study of a broad sample of Brazilian firms. Most of the previous Brazilian and international literature indicates a decrease in the operational performance of the companies after going public. Several factors explain this decreasing operational performance after the IPO, such as the aggravation of agency conflicts, information asymmetry, market timing, and window dressing. In the present study I analyze the performance of 69 Brazilian companies that went public between in this period. The results allow us to conclude that the companies that went public were more efficient than other publicly traded companies of comparable size in the same industry. It was possible to identify some change in the post-IPO operational performance, controlling for similar firms. / O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a mudança do desempenho operacional de empresas brasileiras que abriram capital no período de 2004 a 2008, utilizando uma metodologia ainda não usada em estudos que englobem uma amostra ampla de empresas brasileiras. A maioria dos trabalhos pesquisados, tanto brasileiros quanto internacionais, indicam queda do desempenho operacional das empresas após a abertura de capital. Na literatura, vários fatores e teorias são explicam a queda de desempenho operacional das empresas, tais como ampliação dos conflitos de agência, assimetria de informações, market timing, window dressing dos números do balanço pré-IPO, dentre outros. Neste estudo analisamos a performance de 69 empresas que abriram capital no período de 2004 a 2008. Os resultados encontrados permitem inferir que as empresas que abriram capital eram mais eficientes antes do IPO, comparadas a empresas de capital aberto do mesmo setor e tamanho semelhante não sendo possível identificar se houve mudança de desempenho operacional pós-IPO, controlando-se pelo desempenho de empresas similares.