Swiss Cooperative Law: Driver or Obstacle to Cooperative Growth?

Today’s cooperative law is still characterized by the typical self-help cooperative. The most distinctive feature compared to other forms of companies is the purpose of the cooperative, which also determines other characteristic features, such as financing. Well-known, large companies have developed in Switzerland on the basis of cooperative law. However, there are hardly any new companies founded in the legal form of a cooperative today. This chapter examines the question of whether cooperative law is designed in such a way that it tends to promote or inhibit cooperative growth. It concludes that—on the one hand—today's cooperative law offers potential for (slowly, but rather sustainable) specifically cooperative growth: in terms of members, assets, market shares and profit. On the other hand, with a view to areas that are classically considered essential for growth (especially purpose and financing), Swiss cooperative law is more of an obstacle. Concrete proposals on how cooperative law could be made more growth-friendly are critically examined. The chapter concludes that the challenge here is to remove obstacles to growth without sacrificing essential characteristics of the cooperative, for this could eventually lead to the cooperative's raison d'être as a separate legal form being called into question.