WP 51 | 13 The performance of service cooperatives during the crisis: an analysis during 2009-2011

This research, conducted using the traditional method of financial statement indices, concerns the economic and financial performance achieved in the years 2009-2011 by 30 worker cooperatives in the service sector. The cooperatives investigated are medium-sized (turnover 30-50 million euros) and large (turnover over 50 million euros). The results obtained support the thesis that cooperatives exhibit strong resilience in the face of the economic crisis. In particular, cooperatives operating in the multiservice sector (cleaning and garbage collection mainly) and catering show brilliant results, while those operating in the goods handling and transport sector are more affected by the crisis in the manufacturing sector. The same conclusions apply to the employment data. Results by company size show that larger cooperatives perform better.