This article provides a critical examination of the scientific literature published in Spain and internationally on the Non-Profit Third Sector. It focuses on three issues: firstly, the controversy regarding the name and conception of this social sector; secondly, the theories justifying this...

The expression “co-operative” used in its habitual current form is over 50 years old. However, it is not exaggerated to declare that nowadays in this society we are still looking at a new concept under development and hence not shaped definitively. This paper offers an up to date, summarised...

Though in 1978, when the constitution was established, the scientific conception of social economy did not exist, the Magna Carta through different statutes does refer explicitly or implicitly to the different social agents who comprise the social economy: co-operatives, labour associations,...

In the running of social firms, managers play a leading role which can guide the course of these companies. In this article we analyse the theoretical elements underlying the central importance of managers in social firms, the nature of these strategic human resources, particularly the variables...

In Argentina research into cooperativism has played a marginal role reflecting a weak relationship between research and the problems, needs and potential of this sector. This paper carries out a review of research undertaken into cooperativism and published in specialist magazines over the...

The Spanish Constitution in article 129.2 establishes a mandate (and thus an imperative order) to the state powers to promote the figures and mechanisms of the social economy. This support is juxtaposed to the constitutional rules defining the Spanish economic and bs system The roots of the...

Economic literature first turned its attention to the co-operative movement in the period of the flowering of classical political economics. From then on and to the present day, co-operatives have aroused the interest of the different currents of economic thought. In this article we review the...

This paper focuses on the effects of new information and communications technologies (NICT) on innovation and internationalisation in enterprises in the Social Economy. It begins by identifying strategic groups within enterprises by their functional choices of NICT. Extensive field work was...

The aim of this article is to show the current situation of Spanish hospitals, as the result of research into both the public and private sector. The National Health System budget in 2002 was of over 28,000 million Euros. The bulk of the budget, over 90%, goes towards patient care and treatment,...