Social capital in cooperatives

A typology and their influence on performance

Bibliographic Data

ID2434855
AuthorsAna M García-Pérez, Ana María García Pérez (0000-0003-4252-8340, Universidad de La Laguna), Cándido Román-Cervantes (0000-0002-1697-3988, Universidad de La Laguna), Enrique González-Dávila, Enrique González‐Dávila (0000-0002-0781-9161, Universidad de La Laguna), Vanessa Yanes Estévez (0000-0002-4834-7199, Universidad de La Laguna), Vanessa Yanes-Estévez
Year2023
Volume16
Issue4
Pages155-177
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomics & Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2071-789X • E-ISSN: 2306-3459
PublisherCentre of Sociological Research, Szczecin, Poland (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.14254/2071-789x.2023/16-4/7
OpenAlexW4390729324
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited50

One of the distinctive characteristics of cooperatives is their social capital. This article contributes to the literature by proposing a classification of cooperatives according to their social capital: internal social networks (relationships between their members, and between their members and their managers) and/or external social networks (relationships with customers, other cooperatives, institutions etc.). The sample comprised managers from 50 agrifood cooperatives located in the Canary Islands (Spain) who answered a questionnaire designed on the basis of the existing literature. Descriptive statistics such as means and non-parametric test (Pearson's Chi-square test) were used to process the information. The largest group of cooperatives developed strong internal and external social networks (i.e., a broad social network). The second group was the opposite: social networks were weak internally as well as externally (the so-called narrow social network). The results also showed that when cooperatives developed only one type of network, they focused on a strong internal network (asymmetric internal social network). The only difference in the performance of cooperatives depending on their social network was observed in cooperatives with an asymmetric external social network. Such cooperatives had a better public image than their competitors

Business · Competitor analysis · Descriptive statistics · Social capital · Social network (sociolinguistics) · Social network analysis · Social science · Sociology · Statistics · Test (biology) · Typology · Computer Science · Cooperative Studies and Economics · Marketing · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access