Showed this video on co-operatives to my IGCSE Economics (Unit 4 of CIE syllabus) class today and found it most useful in demonstrating the characteristics and examples. Remember the following characteristics about co-operatives:

• share responsibility for the success or failure of the enterprise
• work together
• take decisions together
• share profits (and losses).
• The three most commonly found cooperatives are farming, production and retail.

Advantages

• Limited liability
• Workers in worker co-operatives take business decisions and share profits.
• Members of consumer co-operatives enjoy profit dividends or lower prices

Disadvantages

• Many consumer co-operatives have been forced out of business by larger companies.
• Worker co-operatives may be badly run.