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The purpose of this paper is to explore women’s participation in cooperative societies and the constraints in attaining management positions. Despite the importance of gender equality as a tool for national economic growth gaining prominent attention, women’s access to leadership and decision-making in cooperative societies remains under-researched.

This study hinges on management and gender theories and systematic literature reviews. This study used a descriptive survey research design for primary data derived from a purposive non-random sampling technique that selected seven (7) active cooperative societies in Awka-South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Structured questionnaires were administered to the selected sample of 129 members. The hypotheses were analyzed using the T-test statistical model.

This study revealed that social, legal, economic and cultural constraints affected women’s participation in cooperative societies in Awka, Anambra State. Also, that the African-based culture and family traditions, patriarchal societal system, household responsibilities and homemaker roles, religious associations, certain strict cooperative entry requirements, limitation on women’s access to resources and low paid wages and non-participatory training activities constrained the women. Therefore, the authors recommended that cooperatives should institute measures to encourage an increase in women members’ participation at the committee level and build their capacity own economic resources.

This paper focuses on barriers that inhibit women’s participation in cooperative societies with a particular focus on their opportunities and outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of cooperative societies to housing finance for the urban low income group in Ogbomoso, Oyo state of Nigeria. This is with a view to determine the effectiveness of the societies' lending as a means of solving the housing problem among the low income group in Nigeria.

Questionnaires were administered to 120 members of eight societies of four cooperative unions selected through a random sampling technique. In total, 15 members who had benefited from the loan were surveyed in each of the societies. Data were analysed with the use of frequency distribution, percentage and measure of cooperators satisfaction index (CSI).

The results showed that 52 per cent of responding members had financed the development of their houses to completion stage, while 28 per cent had their houses still under construction. The index of satisfaction (CSI) on each attribute of “affordability”, “transaction cost” and “collateral” is higher than the aggregate satisfaction on the loan. In addition, the level of satisfaction on a cooperative loan with a CSI of 3.77 is far above average (2.50) and greater than the level of satisfaction on National Housing Fund (CSI of 2.07), which is far below average. It was also discovered that membership of cooperative societies cuts across all occupations and is open to all interested members of the community irrespective of sexual or academic status.

The paper concludes that, with the popularity and effectiveness of cooperative loans in the study area, the government should encourage and integrate the initiative to evolve an efficient and effective national housing policy.

This is one of the few studies on housing development finance conducted through a non‐institutional source, particularly in the Nigerian context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cooperative practices of accountability, cooperative ownership, advanced communication and non-financial performance in savings and credit cooperative societies.

The study uses a cross-sectional research design and adopted a mixed methodological approach were hypotheses were statistically tested using structural equation modeling based on survey data (n = 220) and narratives from qualitative findings supported the quantitative findings from savings and credit cooperative societies.

The findings reveal that cooperative practices of accountability, cooperative ownership and advanced communication are significantly and positively associated with non-financial performance of savings and credit cooperative societies.

This study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between cooperative practices of accountability, cooperative ownership and advanced communication and non-financial performance in savings and credit cooperative societies in emerging economies like Uganda. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is limited or no study that has used the construct of agency theory in explaining the relationship between cooperative practices and non-financial performance in savings and credit cooperative societies.

In this chapter the authors identified and discussed the most significant barriers faced by cooperative movements in Malta, providing recommendations for potential solutions. Primary data for this research were collected through the use of semi-structured interviews with a selection of 18 representatives of the small current Maltese cooperative movement, most of whom are active either in individual cooperatives (16) and/or in the cooperative institutions (five).

Findings indicated that the most significant problems are the lack of education and awareness regarding the cooperative movement. These are closely followed by the divide within the movement itself, which is also hindering further development of Maltese cooperatives. Therefore, for the movement to grow and develop, one must first tackle the lack of education and awareness of this business model. Furthermore, in order for the movement to reach its full potential there must be cooperation amongst cooperatives, leading to the appropriate environment for growth.

Through the identification of these significant barriers, targeted action may be recommended and taken so as to reduce, if not eliminate, these barriers and thereby help the Maltese cooperative movement flourish.

There is still no universal definition of the third sector in Europe, but it can be seen as including all types of non-governmental not-for-profit entities such as non-profit organizations, mutuals, cooperatives, social enterprises and foundations. This article attempts to make sense of the current shifting conceptualization of the third sector in Europe. It is based on short country summaries of the images and concepts of the third sector in 13 European countries by EMES Network’s members, first presented in 2008 (Defourny and Pestoff, 2008; nine of them were recently revised and are found in the appendix to this article.). The perception and development of the third sector in Europe is closely related to the other major social governance institutions/mechanisms, like the market, state and community and through the third sector’s interaction with them. Moreover, many third sector organizations (TSOs) overlap with these other social institutions, resulting in varying degrees of hybridity and internal tensions experienced by them. TSOs can generate resources from their activities on the market, by providing services in partnership with the state and/or by promoting the interests of a given community or group. The country overviews document a growing professionalization of TSOs in most countries and a growing dependency of public funds to provide services. This has important theoretical and practical implications for orienting the articles included in this book. Thus, it can provide a key for better understanding the discussion and analysis in the remainder of this volume.

According to Global Healthcare Security Index 2021, India ranked 66 out of 195 countries, indicating the need and scope for improvement. The Cooperative healthcare system which has been rendering exemplary services is yet to gain visible recognition in India. Given the need for upgrading the health infrastructure in India and providing more affordable health services to the country’s growing population, it would help appreciate the large role that cooperative healthcare can play along with others. This study explores the structure, conduct, and performance of healthcare co-operatives in India, the factors contributing to their success and failure, and the challenges they face. The Health Cooperatives have a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka and are also coming up in other parts of the country. However, a detailed database of them for public awareness is very limited. The cooperative hospitals can meet the basic requirements of curative treatment in rural and poorly-endowed urban areas. The democratic way in which they function makes them a destination for a financially weaker section. They must retain this feature. The study covers two successful cases which reveal that India needs a more dense healthcare cooperative network. Since cooperative hospitals in tune with the spirit of service run on the principle of being ‘Not-for-Profit’ they need to be supported by the governments more liberally, without however interfering with their governance and administration.

The goal of this study was to determine the impact of access to credit facilities on financial performance among farmers of cooperative societies. The study also tested the predictive power of financial literacy.

The descriptive survey research design was used for the study while the sample size was 240 farmers of cooperative societies from South-East Nigeria. The farmers were categorised into those with access to credit facilities and those without access to credit facilities. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Data were analysed using multiple analyses of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis.

Farmers with access to credit facilities reported higher financial performance such as return on investment, working capital, net profit, profit margin and sales. However, those without access to credit facilities reported lower mean scores on financial performance. Also, financial literacy, like financial knowledge, attitude and awareness, significantly predicts the impact of access to credit facilities on financial performance. It was also found that the duration of repayment of credit facilities, like medium and long term, contributes more to improving financial performance.

This study has shown that even though access to credit facilities impacts financial performance, financial literacy is an important consideration. Also, the duration of repayment is a crucial factor.

There is a renewed interest among economists and policymakers in striking a perfect balance between the market, state, and the community for equitable and sustained development. Inclusive development is the need of the hour and healthcare cooperatives provide the perfect means to deliver that. The cooperatives can and should have an important role to play in this scenario. However, there is an important need to provide an enabling environment for the genesis and growth of Healthcare Cooperatives in India and to learn from the best models and practices across the world. The chapter discusses the effectiveness of healthcare cooperatives.

Healthcare is indispensable for any civilisation to attain a good quality of life and well-being on both mental and physical levels. The healthcare domain primarily falls under pharma, medical, biotechnology, and nursing. Also, other fields may be aligned with these primary fields. Healthcare amasses the contemporary trends and knowledge of upcoming techniques to improve healthcare processes. The practitioners are primarily doctors, nurses, specialists and health professionals, hospital administrators, and health insurance.

It is a fundamental attribute needed for any society to attain good quality of life and well-being in mental and physical health. It is a fundamental right of people to receive good healthcare where drug treatment and hospitalization are available at a nominal cost, as a requirement of today’s modern era. There appears to be a significant disparity in the availability of good healthcare in rural areas compared to urban in India. Even though we enter the digital era with the facilities offered in Industry 4.0 and other advanced technologies brings about a significant change of overall processing within healthcare systems. During the pandemic of COVID-19, there has been digital transformation with success globally. Healthcare cooperatives are a new norm to support the healthcare systems globally. The chapter discusses Gampaha healthcare cooperative and reviews Ayushman Sahakar scheme in India. The reforms require time to evolve.

Economic Society 5.0 is the answer to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 through the creation of new value from the development of advanced technology that aims to reduce the gap between human and economic problems. Excellent human resources and adequate digital infrastructure are requirements in an Economic Society 5.0. Cooperatives as community economic organizations are players in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Because of low competitiveness, cooperatives cannot create new and sustainable income streams, particularly digitalization capabilities. This study aims to encourage the competitiveness of cooperatives in the West Java region, Indonesia, in an Economic Society 5.0 by identifying the correlation between digital capabilities, digital orientation, employee resistance, government support, digital innovation and competitiveness.

This study uses a quantitative method through surveys as data collection techniques by distributing questionnaires to 386 leaders of cooperatives in West Java. Hypothesis testing uses analysis technique of structural equation modeling with partial least squares tool.

There are five hypotheses that are supported in the proposed model in this study. Digital orientation and government support have a positif and significant effect on digital innovation, in contrary; digital capability and employee resistance do not show any effect. Digital orientation, government support and digital capability also have a positive and significant effect on competitiveness. Meanwhile, employee resistance and digital innovation have no significant effect on competitiveness. Digital innovation was also found not to mediate the relationship between digital orientation, government support, digital capability and employee resistance with competitiveness.

This study provides new insights into the study of cooperatives as community’s economic institutions. This study adds empirical evidence of the factors that influence the competitiveness of cooperative institutions in Indonesia as a driver of the community’s economy. This study also provides practical implications for the development of cooperative competitiveness in developing countries, particularly in Indonesia.