Cooperative Banking: Innovations and Developments

Cooperativebanks have traditionally played a central role in the economic andsocial development of their members and of the territories where theyoperate, while remaining stable, profitable and competitive economicentities. Many theoretical and empirical analyses on cooperativebanks have been conducted by policymakers, academics andpractitioners in order to investigate the reasons for thisperformance; but these studies have not produced unambiguous resultsand, in the meantime, have not exhausted all the arguments whichdominate this issue. Moreover, while cooperative banks share specificcommon roots – that is, cooperation, mutuality, locality,member-ownership, ethics, solidarity, social cohesion, etc. – theirbusiness models have evolved differently over the centuries andwithin each country or continent.