Legal and empirical evidence of the social function of cooperatives. Water distribution cooperatives as a case study
Abstract
This study focuses on the social function of cooperatives, which is reflected in their legal framework, more specifically in their social object, which is not limited to satisfying the needs of its members, but should also take into account the interests of the community where the cooperative develops its activity, in its democratic and participatory organisation and operation, in its economic system based on the value of equitability both in the admission requirements of members and in the results’ distribution. The study uses an eminently qualitative research methodology, through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with the individuals responsible for managing five water distribution cooperatives located in the southern localities of the municipality of Paredes, in Portugal. The empirical evidence obtained confirms the important social role played by cooperatives, and their intra-cooperative and extra-cooperative social function is evident. As empirical evidence of this social function, we have described present the water distribution cooperatives that allow their members and the community access to water, at socially acceptable average prices and comply with all legal requirements for monitoring, control and quality.
Received: 09 May 2022
Accepted: 28 October 2022
Downloads
References
CAETANO, Marcello. 1990. Manual de Direito Administrativo. 10.ª Edição Revista e Actualizada pelo Prof. Doutor Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Tomo II, Almedina, Coimbra
FAJARDO, Gemma, FICI, Antonio, HENRŸ, Hagen, HIEZ, David, MEIRA, Deo- linda, MÜNKNER, Hans-H. e SNAITH, Ian. 2017. Principles of European Cooperative Law. Principles, Commentaries and National Reports. Cam- bridge, Intersentia.
FAUQUET, George. 1980. O Sector Cooperativo. Ensaio sobre o lugar do homem nas instituições cooperativas e destas na economia (tradução de F. Pinto). Lisboa, Livros Horizonte.
FERNANDES, José Pedro. 1991. Domínio Público, in Dicionário Jurídico da Administração Pública, vol. IV. Lisboa, p. 166.
FICI, Antonio. 2015. El papel esencial del derecho cooperativo. CIRIEC-España, Revista jurídica de economía social y cooperativa, 27: 13-47.
GARTEIZ-AURRECOA, Javier Divar. 2011. Las cooperativas: una alternativa eco- nómica. Madrid: Dykinson.
HENRY, Hagen. 2013. Superar la crisis del Estado de Bienestar: el rol de las empresas democráticas, una perspectiva jurídica. Ciriec España-Revista Jurídica de Economía Social y Cooperativa, n.º 24: 11-20.
MEIRA, Deolinda. 2012. Uma análise do regime jurídico da cooperativa à luz do conceito de empreendedorismo social. CIRIEC-España, Revista jurídica de economía social y cooperativa n.º 23: 7-29.
MEIRA, Deolinda. 2010. As operações com terceiros no Direito Cooperativo Português (Comentário ao Acórdão do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça de 18 de dezembro de 2007). RCEJ – Revista de Ciências Empresariais e Jurídicas, n.º 17: 93-111.
MEIRA, Deolinda. 2015. Contributos legislativos para a criação de empresas cooperativas: a livre fixação do capital social. CIRIEC-España, Revista jurídica de economía social y cooperativa, n.º 26: 27-52.
MEIRA, Deolinda. 2018. O princípio da participação económica dos membros à luz dos novos perfis do escopo mutualístico. Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo, N.º 53: 107-137. https://doi.org/10.18543/baidc-53-2018pp107-137.
MEIRA, Deolinda. 2019. Identidade cooperativa, admissão e demissão dos cooperadores. Realidades convergentes no direito português. In J. Mi- randa, L. Sousa & E. Gadea (Eds.), Direito Cooperativo e Identidade Cooperativa (71-96). Curitiba: Brazil Publishing.
MEIRA, Deolinda e RAMOS, Maria Elisabete. 2015. Os princípios cooperativos no contexto da reforma do Código Cooperativo português. CIRIEC-España, Revista jurídica de economía social y cooperativa, n.º 27, 401-428 MIRANDA, João; MARQUES, Rui Cunha, GUIMARÃES, Ana Luísa e KIRKBY,
Mark. 2017. Temas de Direito da Água. Lisboa, Instituto de Ciências Jurídico-Políticas /Centro de Investigação de Direito Público.
MÜNKNER, Hans-H.. 2015. Co-operative Principles and Co-operative Law, 2nd, revised edition. Wien, Zurich: Lit Verlag GmbH e Co. KG.
NAMORADO, Rui. 2017. A Economia Social e a Constituição, Economia Social em Textos, 3. Coimbra: CECES/FEUC.
NAMORADO, Rui. 2018. Artigo 3.º In Deolinda Meira e Maria Elisabete Ramos (eds), Código Cooperativo anotado (28-36). Coimbra: Almedina.
SOUSA, Simão Mendes . 2019. A tarifa social enquanto garante de acessibilidade e universalidade do direito à água. Revista Eletrónica de Direito Público, n.º 6, vol. 1: 166-191
YIN, Robert. 2009. Case Study Research: Design and Methods (4 ed.). SAGE Publication, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2022 University of Deusto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Last update: 29/06/2026
The authors are advised to read their rights carefully. We believe this approach ensures a fair agreement for both parties. These instructions should be read in conjunction with the Ethical Guidelines and the Open Access Policy, Licensing Terms and Copyright of the journal "Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo (BAIDC)".
1. Authorship and Ethics
By submitting their manuscripts to Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo (BAIDC), the authors accept and undertake to comply with the conditions of publication without the need to sign an additional transfer agreement with the Publisher (University of Deusto). In doing so, they guarantee that their work is unpublished in any form, original, and does not breach BAIDC’s Ethical Guidelines or the rights of third parties, and that no licences have been or will be granted that are incompatible with the rights granted to the Publisher.
The authors assume full and exclusive responsibility for the content of the study and formally declare that they have no conflicts of interest that affect the integrity of the research.
2. Publisher’s Rights
By submitting the manuscript, the authors agree to its publication under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. Consequently, they grant the Publisher the exclusive, royalty-free and worldwide right of first publication, editing, layout and exploitation of the article. This grant authorises the Publisher to distribute, sub-license and index the work in any format, medium, database or institutional repository, for the purposes of promotion and scientific dissemination.
3. Copyright
The authors retain the intellectual property rights to their article and retain the right to distribute and use their work for teaching purposes, future research or personal archiving, provided that the original publication in the Journal is cited. They are also permitted to republish in other media, provided that a (foot)note is included with the full reference to BAIDC (including the DOI, where available) and no explicit endorsement of the Journal and/or Publisher is implied.
4. Open access
BAIDC is an open-access journal; this means that it is freely and fully accessible in its entirety immediately upon publication of its content. However, in accordance with the licence mentioned above, the authors of the articles must always be properly cited; and both commercial use and any modification intended for distribution will require the express prior written permission of the rights holder.
More details are available under the section “Open Access Policy, Licensing Terms and Copyright”.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
1.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
