Research

Cooperatives are a concept of cooperation based on the voluntary contributions of their members and democratic decision-making that has been tried and tested worldwide. Therefore, the main subject of the institute’s work is the scientific examination of current problems and fundamental questions from all areas of cooperatives and — more fundamentally — of cooperation research. In this context, specifics and innovative forms of cooperation are empirically and theoretically addressed and further developed.

Since 1991, the basic funding of the institute has been provided by the members of the sponsoring society. These are individuals, cooperatives and their associations, as well as association partners of the cooperative organization in Germany.

Research activities are financed through third-party funds raised by the Institute’s members from research funding institutions such as the German Research Foundation, the DZ-BANK Foundation, the European Union, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). At the same time, scientific studies and the tasks of clarifying fundamental questions from cooperative practice are also repeatedly assigned to the Institute and its members for processing.

In its tasks, the Institute always aims at a close practical relevance of its scientific work.

A prerequisite for practice-oriented research is close contact with cooperatives and their organizations. This is the only way to obtain information on the areas in which research is needed, and the only way to ensure that research is relevant to practice. The Institute’s regular conferences and lecture series are therefore an important supplement to the research work.