Tag: alternative cooperative forms

Phil Kenkel

Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University

A cooperative is a for profit business that is owned by its users and distributes profits or losses in proportion to use.  Cooperative businesses are organized as corporations but are incorporated under separate statues.  The system of distributing profits and losses in proportion to use is fundamentally different from that of investor owned firms where profit and loss is allocated in proportion to ownership.  The profit distribution system, which is unique …

Phil Kenkel

Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair, Oklahoma State University

Most cooperatives are focused on a single group of user and distribute benefits to those users.  Examples would include agricultural cooperative owned by farmers, retail cooperatives owned by consumers or taxi cab cooperatives owned by workers.  In recent years, two new modified cooperative structures have emerged: the member-investor cooperative and the multi=stakeholder cooperative.  The goal of these structures is to address limitations of traditional cooperative structures and/or extend the purpose of …