An empirical approach to the viability of social entrepreneurships in Mexico: the life cycle of the cooperatives of the Region of the Coastal of Oaxaca

Abstract

In order to know the factors, actors and main behaviors that impact the viability and permanence of the cooperatives in Mexico and to generate knowledge that contributes to the redesign of public policies for the development of the social economy, this paper describes the process that in general terms through thirty cooperatives in the Region of the Coast of Oaxaca in search of staying and developing in social and economic contexts that are adverse. It is analyzed, from the aspects that initially unite the social group of founders, to its consolidation as self-sustainable cooperatives of production or services, or in the worst case until the real disintegration of the cooperative. They are identify the stages of initial social cohesion, construction of the cooperative project, formulation of the investment project, financing management, start-up and operations, as well as consolidation or real disintegration. To carry it out, the analysis and synthesis method that was used, supported with fifty in-depth interviews with key informants from thirty cooperatives. Emphasis was placed on identifying formal and informal rules that regulate the social interaction, motivations and behavior of the actors involved, as well as the main obstacles faced by the cooperative members along every stage. Likewise, we´ve sought to identify to what extent the success or failure of social entrepreneurship depends on factors and external actors to the social group or on the internal social, institutional, economic, technical, organizational and political aspects of those who make up the cooperatives.