Even when I was living in a very liberal area, there were only a small handful of stores that advertised as worker co-ops. It’s funny too because those co-op stores were all incredibly popular and successful, so I don’t understand why they are so comparatively rare? The organizational structure seems simple to maintain, and has a high incentive for regular workers to go above and beyond since they directly benefit from the business being successful, so what’s the deal? I am speaking from a US centric view, so maybe things are different in Europe, but even with my limited knowledge I feel like they are relatively unpopular there too, but maybe not? I dunno.
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It’s not a matter of individual opinion or “liking”; it’s a structural issue. Even a community-minded, cooperatively-owned credit union faces the same incentives as a commercial bank when making business loans: it’s easier to evaluate and hold accountable a single business owner than a collective of owners.
As a result, cooperatives are easier to start when the founders have personal savings they can draw on, than by taking on business loans. A common model is to start the business “normally” and then sell it to its workers, rather than starting it as a collective up front.
Does it require equal ownership to fall into that category of a worker-owned co-op?
I work for Lowe’s and we have a stock purchasing plan that lets us become partial owners of Lowes. Does that make it a worker’s coop?