Mondragon Corporation is the world's largest worker owned coop. Profits are primarily allocated to the worker-members' capital accounts and reinvested in the coops. The highest paid executives are typically paid, at most, around 3 to 9 times as much as their lowest paid workers, compared to the average of about 300 times in the US. They employee about 70,000 people, mostly in Basque Country and Spain. They own banks, factories (auto parts, construction, etc), retail stores, including a large grocery store chain and a chain of gas stations, a university, and R&D centers.

They are proof that you can find success by taking care of your employees. They are proof that federations and co-operatives work. They are a powerful example of democratic economic organization.

https://www.mondragon-corporation.com

#Socialism #coop #Mondragon

MONDRAGON Corporation

Corporación MONDRAGON, referencia mundial del trabajo en cooperación, constituye el primer grupo empresarial del País Vasco y el décimo de España, con importante presencia en los sectores Financiero, Industrial, Distribución y Conocimiento.

MONDRAGON Corporation | MONDRAGON Corporation

@praustrian Your perspective does not quite align with the economic reality of Spain.

Spain is a developed social market economy, consistently ranked as the 5th largest in the European Union by GDP. Its GDP per capita is significantly higher than the global average, at around 92% of the EU average. Regions like the Basque Country, Mondragon's base, have some of Spain's highest incomes.

Mondragon Corporation is a highly successful and innovative business, not a drag on the economy. It generates significant revenue, creates thousands of stable, often high-quality worker-owner jobs, and contributes substantially to the local and national economy. Its cooperative model has even shown resilience during downturns, retaining jobs.

Edit: Added some sources and further reading.

https://theweek.com/business/economy/why-spains-economy-is-booming

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Spain

https://brill.com/view/journals/jlso/26/3/article-p336_003.xml?language=en

https://purposeintopractice.org/mondragon-maintaining-resilience-through-cooperative-strategies#:~:text=The%20resilience%20of%20Mondragon%20cooperatives,significant%20and%20valuable.22%20Research%2C

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@praustrian

The term "socialism" fundamentally refers to social ownership of the means of production, which can take various forms: public, collective, cooperative, or employee ownership. It doesn't inherently mean "government omnipotence" or a centrally planned economy.

Mondragon is a worker-owned cooperative, a form of social ownership by its employees, not the state. My original use of #socialism was to highlight this aspect of shared ownership and control. A "social market economy" blends market freedom with social policies, a model quite distinct from pure statism.

While all companies involve cooperation, a true cooperative like Mondragon is legally and structurally defined by democratic member-ownership, which fundamentally differs from conventional private firms owned by investors. Mondragon powerfully shows that worker-owned, democratically organized businesses can thrive and foster equitable prosperity within a market economy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_market_economy

Social market economy - Wikipedia

@praustrian

I appreciate our exchange, but it seems we have fundamental disagreements on the definitions of economic terms and how various economic systems actually function in reality. I've presented verifiable facts about Mondragon and explained why labels like "socialism" and "social market economy" apply to different aspects of its context and structure.

My core point stands: Mondragon Corporation is a real-world example of a highly successful, large-scale worker-owned cooperative federation operating within a market economy. It demonstrates that democratic economic organization, where employees share ownership and decision-making, can lead to remarkable prosperity and resilience. I believe its success offers valuable lessons, regardless of how one chooses to label it

Given our fundamental differences in understanding these terms, I consider my points on Mondragon's success to be made, and I am done discussing this particular aspect.