Co-operatives, Legislation and Public Policy: A Symposium

Date/Time: January 19, 2009 2:41pm
Location: Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary's University , Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canada

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Call for Symposium Participation and Papers

When: June 18-20, 2009

The Master of Management - Co-operatives and Credit Unions (MMCCU) at Saint Mary's University is organizing a symposium to explore issues related to co-operatives and public policy.

Theme: Legislative Issues and Public Policy Issues.

Papers are welcome from:

• Co-operative scholars and academics;
• Co-operative managers with experience and responsibility in the field;
• Government officials involved in legislation and public policy related to co-operatives;

Key legislation and policy issues:

• Do legislation and public policy foster or hinder co-operatives?
• Do legislation and public policy reflect benefits of co-operatives to society?
• Does/should legislation and public policy for co-operatives differ from legislation and policy related to investor owned business?
• What are good or bad examples of legislation and public policy?
• Are there lessons from the global economic crisis?

Deadlines:

Abstract – must be received by March 31, 2009

Final Paper and presentation slides if applicable by June 1, 2009

The Context

Co-operatives and investor owned business have fundamentally different purposes.One exists to provide investors, who are risking their money, with the maximum rate of profit in return for that risk. The bottom line for investor owned business is a single bottom line.As Milton Freidman put it in an article in the New York Times in 1970, “the business of business is to maximize profits.”The business of co-operatives is to meet human needs, individual, group and community, in line with a set of globally accepted values and principles.

Co-operatives by their nature have multiple bottom lines. Investor-owned business is governed on the basis of one dollar one vote.Co-operatives are governed on the basis of one person one vote.These are two clearly different approaches to meeting human needs.

Logic would suggest that legislation and public policy governing and regulating investor-owned business and co-operatives ought to be different.But how? For co-operatives one might expect, as a minimum, an approach which would protect the capital accumulated by generations from appropriation by a few, adherence to the values and principles, protection of member owners from fraud or misdeed and protection of the public well being from the actions of members.For investor-owned business investors and the public need to be closely protected from a business vehicle that has a single bottom line not connected with human or community needs, except by a very imperfect market place, which rarely exists in reality.

In addition to these general questions there are a host of specific questions. Should landlord tenant laws apply to housing co-operatives where the members are both landlord and tenant? If not should some form of individual member protection from a majority be afforded? Should employment law designed for investor-owned business be applied to workers in a worker owned co-operative? Is there a need for property laws for co-operatives to distinguish between individual member property and commonly held co-operative property accumulated by several generations of co-operators through volunteer effort for group and community purposes?

There are many other questions and issues.

In this Symposium we invite papers with either general or specific purposes. Contributors from a number of countries with significantly varying public policy histories are especially welcome. Our expectation is that, while papers may draw on an individual country they will draw conclusions about legislation and public policy in terms that will apply as generally as possible to public policy internationally.

Length of Papers: 10-25 pages

Originality: Original papers will be accepted as the basis for presentations provided they make a substantial contribution the meeting the challenges outlined above. Original papers may be published as part of a special publication and on the MMCCU Website.

Format: All articles should be submitted by e-mail followed by a hard copy on 8 ½ X 11 or A4 paper. Margins should be 3 cm and double spacing should be used. Sub-headings are encouraged to break up the text. Word Format is preferred. References should follow the APA Style.(For a quick reference guide see Appendix II). A more detailed style guide is available.

Papers should be sent to:jtwebbauracom.com or tom.webbsmu.ca

Contact:

Larry Haiven

Tel. 902 420 5082

Email. larry.haivensmu.ca

Tom Webb

Tel. 902 496 8170 or 902 634 4536

Email. tom.webbsmu.ca

 

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