Abstract
Cooperatives are autonomous, duly registered association of persons, with common bond of interest, voluntarily joined together to achieve their social, economic and cultural needs and aspirations, making equitable contributions to the capital required, patronizing their own products and services and accepting fair share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking in accordance with the universally accepted cooperative principles. The study generally aims to determine the social and economic (socio-economic) impact or contributions of cooperatives as perceived by member-respondents. Specifically, it aims to determine the demographic profile of the respondents, the social and economic impact of cooperatives, the actual social and economic impacts of cooperatives, the constraints and concerns encountered by the members, and the significant difference between the socio-economic impact of cooperatives as described by the respondents when grouped according to their demographic profile. In terms of the social impact: on donations, the indicators “Donations given by the cooperative are relatively big enough to cover various causes or advocacies” and “Donations given by the cooperative provide the recipient organization/institution resources to pursue their causes or advocacies” obtained the highest mean; on volunteer/civic works, the indicator “The cooperative participate in various civic causes such as clean-up drive or Balik-eskwela caravans” obtained the highest mean; on expert services, the indicator “The cooperative provides a helping hand to students or members of the academe on topics related to this form of organization” obtained the highest mean; on policy advocacy, the indicator “The cooperative pushes for legislations that ensure productive reforms in the industry” obtained the highest mean; on culture development, the indicator “The cooperative participates in local customs and traditions such as town fiesta, festivals etc” obtained the highest mean; on scholarships, the indicator “The cooperative offers educational loans that specifically support academic concerns with relatively low interest” obtained the highest mean; on student placement, the indicator “The cooperative gets On-the-Job Trainees (OJT) in both Senior High School and College levels” obtained the highest mean; on fund raising, the indicator “The cooperative spearhead fundraising activities which aim to help those who have been devastated by natural calamities such as flood, typhoon or even pandemic” got the highest mean; and on gender and development, the indicator “The cooperative adopts policies that ensure gender and development in all areas” obtained the highest mean. In terms of economic impact, on enterprise development, the indicator “The cooperative provides business loans or multipurpose loans that benefit small business owners” obtained the highest mean; on interest charged on loans, the indicator “The interest charged by cooperative is lower than those being charged by banks and other financial institutions” obtained the highest mean; on interest earned from savings, the indicator “The interest rates were computed to provide the best value for the money saved by members” obtained the highest mean; on sales/service revenue & net income, the indicator “The cooperative has relatively good financial position” obtained the highest mean; and on dividends earned, the indicator “The cooperative has enough earnings to cover dividends share to be given to members after a fiscal year” obtained the highest mean. In terms of the actual social and economic impact, on actual social impact, the indicator “Our cooperative gives donations after devastating floods, typhoons or other man-made or natural disasters” obtained” obtained the highest mean; and on actual economic impact, the indicator “The cooperative has enough earnings to cover dividends share to be given to members after a fiscal year” obtained the highest mean. On the extent of constraints and concerns encountered by the respondents, the indicator “Documentary requirements for the application and approval of financial products (loans, savings etc.) or product ordering or service availing” obtained the highest mean as constraint/concern of members with the cooperative. On the significant difference, there is no significant difference on the respondent’s assessment of the social and economic impacts provided by cooperatives when grouped according to their personal profile except for the municipality where they live in.
