Comparing Capitalistic and Cooperative Firms on the Ground of Humanistic Management

Abstract:     
This paper compares the different modes of functioning of the capitalistic and cooperative firms from the point of view of the principles of humanistic management. After a brief description of the main features of the two types of firm, I argue that efficiency - as it is commonly defined in economics - is not a robust enough standard on the basis of which to evaluate the relative performance of a capitalistic and cooperative firm. I conclude by pointing out that the fundamentum divisionis between the two types of firm resides on the view about the nature of firm: the firm as a commodity or the firm as an association, or community.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: Cooperative firm, capitalistic firm, efficiency, democratic governance, ethics of virtue

working papers series