No abstract

Cooperatives are enterprises characterised by certain principles, such as cooperation, democratic decision-making, and training that define their entrepreneurial behaviours. Several of these cooperative principles appear to exert a positive influence on the performance of these firms and on the three dimensions that define the entrepreneurial orientation of companies: proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking. This study builds a theoretical model that relates cooperative principles, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance from the perspective of corporate governance and human resource management practices, in order to study the links that may exist between these elements. Using data from a survey on 155 worker cooperatives in the Basque Country (Spain) and applying the partial least squares technique, we find that cooperative principles positively affect the performance of cooperatives, both directly and via entrepreneurial orientation.

Purpose -This study aims to examine whether the determinant factors of innovations broadly accepted for traditional firms -the personal traits of the entrepreneurs, the features of the firms and the environment -also influence innovation in social economy companies. Design/methodology/approach -Based on a sample carried out between small cooperatives and worker-owned companies -which are the most representative legal forms in the Spanish social economy collective -the authors develop an empirical study using a logistic regression model. Findings -The results show that, on the whole, innovation in these kinds of firm seems to be determined by the same set of variables as in the case of traditional firms. In addition to this, the present research reveals that the influence of these variables on entrepreneurial innovations depends on the kind of innovation. Finally, the findings also give evidence about the existence of an inter-dependence among the different types of innovation in social economy firms.Research limitations/implications -The study is limited to small firms within the Spanish industrial and service sectors, but provides future researchers with further replication opportunities. Originality/value -Taking into account the relevant contribution of social economy companies to the Spanish economy, and having noted the scarce number of studies about innovation in the social economy sector, this research offers a significant contribution by specifying the innovative behavior of social economy firms in Spain.

RESUMEN: La realidad y la literatura científica de la empresa social han ido adquiriendo mayor relevancia durante los últimos años en España, aunque no ha llegado a equipararse a los niveles de otros países europeos, en los cuales el concepto goza de un mayor reconocimiento y desarrollo. Si bien se pueden identificar ejemplos de empresas sociales en nuestro país desde el siglo XV, no es hasta hace una década cuando se ha acuñado el concepto de manera más generalizada.Nuestro objetivo es identificar los modelos de empresa social existentes en España sobre cada uno de los enfoques considerados en la literatura específica de empresa social.Partiendo de la metodología y el trabajo desarrollado dentro del proyecto ICSEM (equipo español), estableceremos una clasificación de los distintos modelos de empresas sociales, utilizando como referencia las fronteras conceptuales de cuatro realidades socioeconómicas presentes en España: la economía social, el Tercer Sector de Acción Social, la economía solidaria y el Emprendimiento Social.Como resultado más relevante obtenemos una nueva perspectiva de análisis de las empresas sociales, contribuyendo así al debate actual de delimitación del concepto y realidad de la empresa social, en España en particular, y en la esfera académica en general.

This article links two different fields of research, entrepreneurship and cooperatives, and studies whether, depending on the context, differences in terms of the fulfilment of the cooperative philosophy (cooperative essence) and entrepreneurial quality exist. To this aim, a statistical analysis is carried out using data from two Spanish regions: Andalusia and the Basque Country. The results enable us to conclude, firstly, that cooperative essence differs in relation to regional context, but not in relation to entrepreneurial quality. Secondly, cooperative essence and entrepreneurial quality are positively related, suggesting that cooperative essence may be part of the entrepreneurial quality of these kinds of firms.