Abstract
This thesis focus on cooperatives survival. Since the financial crisis, the cooperative model is particularly promoted for its ability to resist crises. However, this resilience seems to be inferred from many economic facts (growth in cumulative cooperative sector turnover, increase in membership and wage employment, etc.) and not scientific studies. Thus, the aim of this research is to provide scientific insight into the ability of the cooperative model to cope better than corporations. Cooperatives are held by their members who have the dual status of suppliers of capital and suppliers, employees or customers. From this singular ownership flows an ambition that goes beyond the dominant financial paradigm of maximizing value for capital providers: maximizing value for members. Hence, one question arises: does ownership of cooperatives affect their ability to cope better? To answer this question, we have structured our thinking around four essays. The first essay is a literature review that revisits the notion of cooperative performance: in the case of cooperatives, financial performance can be equated with the ability to resist over time, that is, to survive. In the second essay we compare the survival of cooperatives and corporations, by distinguishing between disappearances by mergers and liquidations, and test the influence of classical financial determinants. The results indicate that cooperatives seem to be more resilient through a particular mechanism: the merger. This allows a redeployment of the activity and members can continue to sell their production in an organization that they will collectively hold and that they will manage democratically. Thus, while mergers are not the property of cooperatives, they reflect the principle of solidarity between cooperatives and make it possible for members to avoid the negative consequences of the disappearance of the activity. The results also indicate that the traditional financial determinants do not fully account for the survival of cooperatives. The third essay focuses on longevity. We observe that cooperatives survive longer than corporations. Moreover, this article, voluntarily dealing with a precise and homogeneous sector, propose an explanation for the best survival of cooperatives: it seems that they reflect the fluctuations of activity on their members. The fourth and final essay of the thesis focuses exclusively on cooperatives in order to propose a specific financial analysis and special financial ratios to explain their survival. The results indicate that the determinants of disappearance by mergers and liquidations are different, and confirm the role of mergers as a mechanism of survival. Moreover, contrary to the flagship that cooperatives absorb shocks thanks to their common equity, it seems that the ones which cope better are those whose members agree to bear the risk through their remuneration.