The Swiss Cooperative Landscape: A Quantitative and Qualitative Overview

Abstract

Cooperatives play an important role in the Swiss society. Swiss cooperatives can be found in cities as well as rural Alpine areas, from nationwide organizations to small, less corporate-like ones. This chapter illustrates the diversity of Swiss cooperatives today through a quantitative and qualitative lens. The first section gives an overview of Swiss cooperatives today in terms of numbers and distribution along geographic groupings, economic activity, size, and economic impact as well as their public perception and recent media resonance. The second part of the chapter sketches how various cooperatives are coping with a challenging and changing economic landscape. This includes a discussion of how large and established cooperatives are evolving, using a case as an example, and an examination of how smaller cooperatives are adapting and sometimes thriving in new, socially critical areas: farming, housing, and energy. Finally, the conclusion summarizes key findings and what the future may hold.