Restructuring in Cooperatives: The Example of the Danish Pork Processing Industry, 1968–2002*

Abstract

This article investigates the degree to which large cooperative organizations behave like other multilocational firms when they restructure. An examination of the restructuring of the Danish pork processing industry over thirty-five years reveals that cooperative ownership does matter in subtle ways. In particular, the coordination of the market achieved under cooperative ownership results in a restructuring that preserves both global economic position and fundamental institutions, particularly the cooperative movement and the set of beliefs that underpin it. This preservation of the beliefs of the cooperative movement is particularly evident in the lack of price “squeezing” on pigs delivered to the slaughter facilities.