Labour Managed Firm in Spain

Abstract

There are at least two types of companies: conventional capitalist companies or Profit Maximizing Firms (PMFs) and, on the other hand, companies managed by their workforce or Labour-Managed Firms (LMFs). The entrepreneurial structures in Spain which include this second type are worker cooperatives (cooperativas de trabajo asociado) and public or limited liability worker-owned companies (sociedades laborales). This paper describes how this type of company has evolved using a set of indicators and offers a closer look at some of the reasons which explain the current difficult situation which, as will be shown, can be considered as critical in the case of cooperatives.