Researching Co-operatives

Co-operatives have been ‘off the radar’ for researchers for some years and there is a great need to rebuild the evidence on co‑operatives for practitioners and policy makers alike. The research team at the College carries out research into the role of co-operatives, both historical and contemporary, and works with a growing number of research partners from the co-operative movement and the higher education sector.

Our aim is also to disseminate research findings on co-operatives as widely as possible. We do this by producing a range of accessible publications for wide circulation in the co-operative movement and beyond. These publications, along with a selection of our briefing papers, can be viewed and download in the Resources section of the site. Our Online Library provides a comprehensive guide to publications and electronic documents relating to co-operative research. We also present papers and other contributions on co-operatives research at conferences and other events.

• “The current lack of robust and harmonized statistics, including research on cooperatives, makes it difficult to quantify and communicate their impact.” Report of the Secretary General to the UN General Assembly 2009 A/64/132