The Geographical Clustering of Co-operatives: Findings from the Visual Historical Atlas of Australian Co-operatives

The Co-operatives Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School invite you to this in person seminar presented on Friday, 6 December 2024.

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of geographical clustering of co-operatives drawing upon Visual Historical Atlas of Australian Co-operatives Project, which has collected data on the organisational histories of over 11,000 co-operatives, from 1827 to today. While the literature on clustering has primarily focused on issues such as competition and innovation, there is literature that focuses on co-operative clusters such as the Basque Region in Spain and Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The Atlas explores the concept of clusters in Australia by building on ABS census definitions for locality and region. It highlights that co-operative clusters are an important feature of Australian co-operative history with clusters emerging, disappearing and surviving for long periods. They can be found in CBDs, metropolitan suburbs and regional areas. Significant factors explaining their existence include local culture, the long-term presence of leading co-operatives and state intervention, particularly relating to the encouragement of local co-operative building societies from the 1930s. The Visual Historical Atlas of Australian Co-operatives, which is also designed and implemented in the project, makes these clusters visible so they could be examined over time and space, as reported in this paper.

About the Authors

Greg Patmore is Emeritus Professor of Business and Labour History at the University of Sydney Business School. He is the co-author of A Global History of Co-operative Business (Routledge, 2018) with Nikola Balnave (Macquarie University), author of The Innovative Consumer Co-operative: The Rise and the Fall of Berkeley (Routledge, 2020) and co-author of A History of Australian Co-operatives 1827-2023 (Routledge, 2024) with Nikola Balnave and Olivera Marjanovic (Macquarie University). His current major project is exploring economic democracy and the rise of the internet.

Nikola Balnave is an Associate Professor in the Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia. She is a labour and business historian with a primary focus on co-operatives and the co-operative movement over space and time. Nikki is a co-author of A Global History of Co-operative Business (2018) and A History of Australian Co-operatives 1827-2023 (2024) and has been the President of the Academic Association of Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools since 2016.

Olivera Marjanovic is a Professor of Business Analytics in the Department of Actuarial Studies & Business Analytics, Macquarie Business School, and the Co-Director of the Macquarie University Data Horizons Research Centre. Olivera’s research interests include human and societal aspects of data, analytics, AI and digital platforms as well as Co-operatives & Mutuals Enterprises (CMEs), including the emerging platform co-operatives and data co-operatives.

Jiang Zhu is a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney, specializing in Information Systems. He is from the School of Professional Practice and Leadership within the Faculty of Engineering and IT. Jiang’s research focuses on the social impact of platform cooperatives, exploring how these digital platforms can contribute to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and their potential to foster more equitable and sustainable communities. His work aims to enhance the understanding of how cooperative models in the digital economy can promote social justice and economic sustainability.