Behavior of Social Initiative Cooperatives regarding the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Social Initiative Cooperatives (SICs) are characterised by their counter-cyclical behaviour during periods of crisis; a pattern clearly reflected in the findings of this study. Despite the severity of the economic standstill and the social consequences caused by the pandemic, the number of SICs has continued to grow in recent years, demonstrating their remarkable resilience and ability to adapt to adverse circumstances. This research aims to examine how SICs responded to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. To this end, it analyses the structure of SICs in Spain in 2022 and compares it with the pre-pandemic situation in 2017. This comparative approach allows for an assessment of the pandemic’s impact across four key dimensions: cooperative density (number of entities), geographical distribution (by autonomous community), sectoral composition (based on the National Classification of Economic Activities), and organisational size (number of founding members and share capital). The study provides a novel contribution as the first systematic analysis of the pandemic’s effects on Spanish social cooperatives. Furthermore, the temporal distance from the official end of the health crisis offers a more consolidated and mature perspective, extending and complementing the insights provided by earlier research conducted during the pandemic itself.