Abstract :
Over the last ten years or so a large number of new cooperative enterprises have been established in Sweden in many different areas of activity. The research project reported here concerns the effects which these enterprises have on local economic development. More precisely, attention is focused on the impact of the cooperatives on (1) local employment, (2) the local infrastructure, and (3) the geographical pattern of buying, i.e., how the new cooperatives distribute their purchases of goods and services among local, regional and national suppliers. Six cooperatives are investigated, all of which are located in Jämtland, a county in northern Sweden. The cases include two commercially operating enterprises, two whose operations belong to the public sector, one housing cooperative and one community cooperative. Five of the studied units have created local employment, varying between 2 and 10 full-time jobs. This represents a substantial contribution in the small rural villages where the cooperatives are located. As regards the local infrastructure, the research interest is concentrated on the significance of the new enterprises in preserving the school, the shop and the communications of the village. Here the impact is effected in two ways; (1) by creating jobs and income, thereby strengthening the population base for the service institutions, and (2) by influencing municipal decision-makers. As for the pattern of buying, very small shares — between 0 and 17% — go to local suppliers. Instead, the effects appear at the regional level, with between 38 and 100% of the purchases being made from suppliers in the rest of the county.
