Social economy

Social economy generally refers to the totality of all forms of economy in which the private non -profit-making, but the welfare of a parent population ( welfare ) is in the foreground. In some cases, this refers in public hands all farms. Specifically, with social economy in Germany and Austria after the Second World War, the braid understood in trade union and cooperative enterprises. In the 1980s it came to the collapse of the social economy in Germany after the first prominent companies made ​​the new home bankruptcy and then the most co-operative enterprises were sold.

Social economy enterprises

The German trade unions founded a number of companies in various industries (eg, the Bank of the German Labour ) since the 20s of the 20th century. This served several purposes, on the one hand the system of trade union assets, but also to use the infrastructure of the trade unions as a sales channel. In return, the unions could also send discount offers to its members, which served as an argument of the members advertising. Above all, these companies set out in the service of the ideology of the social economy: It should be shown that businesses exist without profit market orientation and could offer products and services better and cheaper.

The Nazis took up this idea and set it in the service of their cause. The unions were brought into line, the union companies in the Nazi organizations (eg Kraft durch Freude, German Labor Front ) incorporated.

After the Second World War, the unions got their wealth back into the Federal Republic of Germany and the opportunity to engage in economic activity. As a result, large companies in the social economy emerged:

• Bank for Social Economy ( BfG ) (financial institution )
• New home ( housing association )
• Coop ( retail)
• Volksfürsorge (insurance)
• AHHB ( mortgage bank )

This developed positively in the years of the economic miracle and until the end of the 1970s, according to the general economy., Driven mainly by two factors: firstly, the companies in the social economy enjoyed a good reputation. They were connected with attributes such as "cheap", " the little man oriented" and " common good ". In addition to the owner ( the unions ), it was primarily a commitment to social economy, which resulted in this image.

Secondly, the union apparatus served as a sales channel. Hundreds of thousands of works councils and shop stewards of trade unions established contact to potential customers here. Customers, while not among the highest purchasing power, but the social economy companies were loyal to a great extent.

In the 1980s, the public service companies came into existence -threatening crises. The scandal surrounding the " New Home " brought the social economy companies nationwide in the headlines. The union assets in this housing society was destroyed. Even the sale for the symbolic price of a DM to ward off further damage by the unions failed. Less spectacular, but far more costly was the near- bankruptcy of BfG. Risky credit transactions led the mid / late 1980s to depreciation in the billions. By sale to the Aachen- Münchener Versicherung and later at Crédit Lyonnais, the company could be saved. However, the purchase price of the Crédit Lyonnais in the amount of 1.5 billion euros had to be used to offset accumulated losses. Did not survive, the co op AG. In 1989, she was crushed by a comparison with the creditor banks and sold.

The unions artists left by the idea of ​​social economy. The remaining holdings of the trade unions have since been regarded as a purely financial investment.

Community Economic theory approach recently

The American Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom, who was awarded in 2009 as the first woman awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics, has reopened with their research areas, the discussion about new forms of public enterprise. In her seminal book Governing the Commons (1990 ) it shows that communal resources (ie commons ) (in particular sanction principles ) both state control and pure privatization are permanently superior very common in local self-organization and compliance with certain principles of organization. These findings are contrary to the hitherto prevailing economic doctrine, which so far described it unchallenged as so-called " tragedy of the commons " when public service use have historically allegedly inevitably led to overuse and overexploitation. In this sense, the Wildlife Protection Society of Germany can make 2010 a report from the forestry experts Wilhelm Bode, which aims at the partial privatization of the NRW State Forests in a so-called Bürgerwald AG citizens free float, specifying the form of production (continuous mixed forest ) and under the protection of blocking minorities in the hand of a provincial nature conservation foundation. Such considerations do not win last through the banking and financial crisis in 2007 and the growing societal doubts about a purely profit-making, private-sector organization of a business imperative.

Research institutes

The International Research and Information Centre for community

In 1947, Edgar Milhaud in Geneva, the International Research and information center for the community ( Centre international de recherches et d'information sur l' économie collective ) ( Ciriec ). In 1957 the headquarters was moved to Liege. After the death of Professor Milhaud in 1964 were Paul Lambert, 1977 Guy Quadi and since 1990 Bernard Thiry President of Ciriec.

Ciriec is editor of the journal Annals of the social economy, which appears in German, English and French. Every two years there is an international congress of the social economy.

Academy of Social Economy

The Academy of Social Economy was founded in 1948 in Hamburg. In 1961 she was renamed the Academy of Economics and Politics, from 1991 to 31 March 2005, the independent Hamburg University for Economics and Politics ( HWP) and is now the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Hamburg.