Short description:

The 25 years leading up to the global financial crisis have been depicted as ?capitalism unleashed?, with deregulation, privatisation, demutualisation and financialisation. Yet, given this economic and political context, co-operatives and mutuals appear to have been gaining ground in many countries, albeit modestly, even before the financial crisis and the global recession, from which the global economy is still only slowly recovering. This book looks at the contribution of co-operative, mutual and employee-owned firms to the Asia Pacific economy and the challenges the standard ?Western? model faces. This book was originally published as a Special Issue of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Long description:

The 25 years leading up to the international financial crisis have been depicted as ?capitalism unleashed?, containing deregulation, privatisation, demutualisation and financialisation. Yet remarkably, given this economic and political context, co-operatives and mutuals appear to have been gaining ground in many countries, albeit modestly, even before the international financial crisis and the resulting global recession, from which the global economy is still only slowly recovering.

The 2007-2008 international financial crisis called into question how appropriate the shareholder-owned model is, certainly if it is allowed to dominate the financial services sector. However the International Co-operative Alliance is determined to make the mutual and co-operative sector of the economy a dynamic, sustainable and increasingly important sector of the global economy. This book looks at the contribution of co-operative, mutual and employee-owned firms to the Asia Pacific economy - both currently and prospectively ? and the challenges the standard ?Western? model faces regarding employment and output. It also looks at the role of Governments, the nature of co-operatives in China and the role of the state, and the future prospects for cross-border growth of co-operative and mutual business within Asia Pacific, and more widely.

This book was originally published as a Special Issue of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Table of Contents:

Foreword Charles Gould  1. Introduction: Differing forms of capital - setting the scene for mutuality and co-operation in the Asia Pacific Region Chris Rowley and Jonathan Michie  2. The long march of Chinese co-operatives: towards market economy, participation, and sustainable development Andrea Bernardi and Mattia Miani  3. Old and new rural co-operative medical scheme in China: The usefulness of a historical comparative perspective Andrea Bernardi and Anna Greenwood  4. The Role and characteristics of social entrepreneurs in contemporary rural co-operative development in China: case studies of rural social entrepreneurship Hong Lan, Ying Zhu, David Ness, Ke Xing and Kris Schneider  5. Governmental influences on the evolution of agricultural co-operatives in Vietnam: an institutional perspective with case studies Anne Cox and Viet Le  6. Development and challenges of cocoa co-operatives in Papua New Guinea: case of Manus Province Elena Garnevska, Harold Joseph and Tanira Kingi  7. Growth pattern of an employee-owned business: a narrative inquiry concerning the new venture creation experience of Wowprime in Taiwan Li-Chung Chang, Chao-Tung Wen, Yet-Ming Chang and Pei-how Huang  8. From corporate social responsibility to creating shared value with suppliers through mutual firm foundation in the Korean bakery industry: a case study of the SPC Group Dongmin Lee, Junghoon Moon, Jongpyo Cho, Hyoung-Goo Kang and Jaeseok Jeong  9. Assessing the performance of co-operatives in Malaysia: analysis on co-operative groups using a data envelopment analysis approach Azmah Othman, Norma Mansor and Fatimah Kari  10. Conclusion: Mutuality in the Asia Pacific Region Chris Rowley and Jonathan Michie