Causas, intereses y desarrollo histórico de la acción colectiva empresarial en el ámbito agrario: el caso del cooperativismo en el sector oleícola

The objective of this paper is explore the roots of the co-operative movement in the food oil sector from a historical perspective through a bibliographical review of the diverse studies carried out at the regional and provincial levels in Spain. It explores the causes of co-operatives’ creation and the profile of the farmers who benefited from the experience. It ascertains the level of business development in the organisational, human and technological spheres, analysing the conditioning factors limiting co-operative action to the stockpiling and production areas, with little penetration in cooperation at the second level of bottling and refining. An empirical study is made of evolution in one of the Spanish provinces where the incidence of this type of co-operative is significant.