Cooperatives in Croatia - Inefficient, Undesirable or Unrecognized Type of Organization?

Abstract

After initial definitions, this paper offers a brief retrospective of the historical importance of cooperatives in both global and specific Croatian contexts, as well as certain numerical indicators of the immense importance of cooperative organizations, especially in Western European countries. However, it also warns about the lack of importance of cooperatives in Croatia today. We, therefore, then present findings from a wider empirical research conducted at the end of 2018 as part of the scientific project “The role of local and regional self-government units in the development of cooperatives”. This qualitative research was conducted using the method of semi-structured interviews on a non-probabilistic intentional sample (N=11) with interviewees of different profiles (representatives of cooperatives, representatives of regional and local governments, development agencies, etc.) in two counties: Međimurje County and Sisak-Moslavina county, as examples of more and less development Croatian regions. The purpose of this research was to examine the extent to which cooperatives are considered relevant stakeholders in social development at the regional / local level, as well as to detect social factors that have positive or negative effects on cooperatives (external factors) and intra-organizational factors that affect the economic, social and general performance of cooperatives (internal factors).