The distinct characteristics of cooperatives, grounded in values such as self-help, selfresponsibility, etc. (ICA) make them a distinctive form of enterprise that necessitates examination. As other forms of enterprise, cooperatives bear the same onus of ensuring sustainability. To comprehend the social and economic contribution of cooperatives, we investigate their impact and role in attaining environmental sustainability, focusing on circular strategies. Preliminary literature in EI finds that cooperatives facilitate the implementation of some circular economy (CE) processes with general cooperation as an EI driver. After reviewing the literature on the drivers behind the introduction of EI in SMEs, we sought to investigate the specific drivers for cooperatives. To do this, we employed an econometric model to examine CES behaviour in a sample of over 280 Italian cooperatives across various regions and sectors in Italy. The findings underscore the role of cooperation and key managerial factors as drivers for implementation of circular economy innovative strategies. While innovation drivers have been researched for SMEs, the absence on research focusing on the cooperative model, makes this paper strongly relevant to investigate how a specific firms structure would lead to their transition to be a circular innovative cooperative or rather “green” cooperative.

中文翻译：

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绿色合作社：意大利合作社循环战略创新的驱动力


合作社的鲜明特征，以自助、自我责任等价值观为基础。（ICA） 使它们成为一种独特的企业形式，需要进行检查。与其他形式的企业一样，合作社也承担着确保可持续性的责任。为了了解合作社的社会和经济贡献，我们研究了它们在实现环境可持续性方面的影响和作用，重点是循环战略。EI 的初步文献发现，合作社促进了一些循环经济 （CE） 流程的实施，一般合作是 EI 的驱动力。在回顾了有关中小企业引入 EI 背后的驱动因素的文献后，我们试图调查合作社的具体驱动因素。为此，我们采用了一个计量经济学模型来检查意大利各个地区和行业的 280 多个意大利合作社的样本中的 CES 行为。研究结果强调了合作和关键管理因素作为实施循环经济创新战略驱动力的作用。虽然已经为中小企业研究了创新驱动因素，但缺乏针对合作模式的研究，这使得本文与研究特定公司结构如何导致其转变为循环创新合作社或更确切地说是“绿色”合作社具有很强的相关性。