The Co-Operative as a Fringe Firm and the Notion of Self-Exploitation

Abstract

RICHARD WELFORD LECTURES AT THE Management Centre, University of Bradford, England. This paper recognises that many co-operatives, because of the small size, will be operating in markets populated largely by traditional capitalist firms and seeks to explore the idea that this dominance will force co-operatives into a position of self-exploitation in order to survive. It begins by looking at the operation of small co-operatives as fringe firms in the marketplace and goes on to explore the notion of self-exploitation, examining specifically the argument that it is dominance by capitalist firms which forces co-operatives into this role. Having built up some clear hypotheses, the author examines some empirical evidence and finds no hard evidence to support the view that dominance by a large capitalist counterpart is likely to lead to self-exploitation. He suggests that the acceptance of a discount on earnings taken in exchange for working in a co-operative environment cannot be termed self-exploitation.