Volume 67, Issue 2

Cooperative banks do not easily generate immediate economic benefit for their members through business relations with them. They try to create meta-economic members’ benefits and to accomplish their mission by acting socially responsible, mostly with regional aspects. The question arises, whether members view these efforts as a part of their benefit. In this article, we answer this question by using a marketing oriented argumentation and an analysis of a cooperative which presents itself as socially responsible.

Nowadays, cooperative banks in Estonia and Latvia are a marginal phenomenon. During the both countries’ first autonomy and before, they figured prominently and were fixed firmly in all classes of population. There were three development phases. We conclude that genesis, prosperity and demise of cooperative banks are linked closely to the political and economic situation of the respective country. The development proceeded similarly in both countries, however the Latvian institutions performed more effectively.

Compared to other sectors of welfare almost no practical or academic attention is drawn to the cooperative’s organization and legal form. This surprises considering the current boom of private school formations and the rising skepticism regarding registered associations as proper legal forms for highselling initiatives. To approach a first explanation, this article explores the influence of context and general framework as well as the motivation for such formations and the central experiences of three selected school cooperatives.

Zusammenfassung Nach langen Diskussionen seit der Veröffentlichung der sog. EU-CSR-Richtlinie (2014/95/EU) hat der deutsche Gesetzgeber mit zeitlicher Verzögerung das CSR-Richtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz verabschiedet. Im Mittelpunkt der Regulierung steht die Einführung einer nichtfinanziellen Erklärung, wobei die beiden zentralen Mitgliedstaatenwahlrechte zum Ausweis und zur Prüfung an die betreffenden Unternehmen weitergereicht werden. Der nachfolgende Kurzbeitrag gibt einen Überblick über die Inhalte der nichtfinanziellen Erklärung und nimmt eine kritische Würdigung vor.