Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Aging of population is a universal phenomenon, especially in rural Europe, where more than one third of the workforce is over 65 years old. Age affects cooperatives in different ways, but it seems that age is not regarded as the main factors in numerous cooperative studies. Few scholars focus on the research about the impact of age on the internal governance of cooperatives. While this study aims to unveil the link between the age of members and the internal governance of cooperatives, thus trying to fill the gap. Three Swedish cooperatives, Lantmännen, Södra skogsägarna, as well as Arla Foods, were chosen as the study cases. Besides, primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews with the director of Lantmännen and the chair of the Nomination Committee of Södra Skogsägarna and Arla Foods, respectively. The respondents were asked questions about age, internal governance, social capital, as well as commitment. The research results show that the age of the members affects their interest and willingness to participate in the internal governance of cooperatives. Specifically, the elder the members are, the more willing they are to spend time on the internal governance. On the contrary, the younger the members are, the more reluctant they are to participate in the election due to economic and family factors. Therefore, the study concludes that the increase in the age of the members is conducive to the internal governance of cooperatives.