Nuremberg Research Institute for Cooperative Studies
History & Organization
The Research Institute for Cooperative Studies at the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg was founded on December 19, 1949 as an institution affiliated with the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen. Since 1977 it has been based in Nuremberg, since 2006 it is located in the Ludwig Erhard Building, Findelgasse 7/9.
The institute is managed academically by an honorary board of professors from the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
The legal and financial sponsor of the institute is the „Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Forschungsinstituts für Genossenschaftswesen an der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg e. V.“ (Society for the Sponsorship of the Research Institute for Cooperative Studies). The society aims to promote the institute as an independent academic institution in close contact with cooperative firms and auditing associations.
Vision & Activities
The institute’s task is to conduct research on the cooperative system from an economic, legal and sociological perspective. This approach results from the interdisciplinary nature of the legal and corporate nature of cooperatives.
The guiding principle of the institute is the orientation of academic research towards practical problems. The aim is to provide cooperative companies and associations with findings that improve their economic competitiveness on the one hand and support the realization of member-promotion on the other. The research institute also conducts classic academic research.
The treatment of cooperative-specific problems without external influences is not only intended to promote scientific progress, but also to serve the further development of cooperatives and their competitive position. The institute carries out its own research projects and organizes symposia, lectures and practical projects.
In addition, the members of the honorary board, in cooperation with the institute, promote research on the cooperative system through chair-supported research projects and by awarding and supervising PhD dissertations as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s theses on fundamental and current problems of the cooperative system.
In cooperation with the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, the institute aims at familiarizing students with the cooperative concept through university courses, and to promote interest in the special features of the cooperative sector. To train qualified young academics, cooperative economics was introduced as an independent, interdisciplinary compulsory elective module at the WISO department of the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg on the initiative of the institute’s honorary board. Students of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses can choose the elective module „Introduction to Cooperatives“. Additionally, the „Seminar on Cooperatives“ is offered for Master’s students.
Editorial Office of the ZfgG
The institute hosts the editorial office of the Zeitschrift für das gesamte Genossenschaftswesen (ZfgG) – the journal for cooperative studies and practice, first published in 1950. The ZfgG is the only internationally distributed journal on cooperative studies in German. Papers in English are published too. It is an academic discussion forum for the legal, sociological and economic aspects of cooperatives.