How Well Do Worker Cooperatives Perform in Manufacturing? Evidence from a Large Low-Income Country
基于埃塞俄比亚企业数据，研究发现工人合作社由人力资本低、家族创业经验有限的创业者创办，其资本积累和升级意愿弱，导致效率、利润和增长均低于传统企业，质疑合作社促进商业发展的可行性。
This study uses enterprise data from Ethiopia, a developing country, to contribute to a relatively underexplored topic on determinants of cooperative formation and their performance vis-à-vis conventional enterprises. We find that cooperatives are more likely to be formed by entrepreneurs who have low human capital and limited within-family entrepreneurial experience and less likely to engage in capital accumulation and in upgrading, which has implications for their long-term prospects. As a result, they are less efficiently operated, earn lower profits, and grow much more slowly than conventional enterprises. Our results cast doubt on the viability of using cooperatives to support business development and entrepreneurial transformation.