THE MONDRAGON SYSTEM OF WORKER PRODUCTION COOPERATIVES.

The article focuses on the Mondragón system of worker production cooperatives. The Mondragón system of industrial production cooperatives in the Basque country of Spain is a major exception to the time-honored belief that production firms organized on a cooperative basis of worker ownership are doomed to a short and precarious existence. This paper traces the evolution of the Mondragón industrial firms, in association with cooperative educational, banking, and commercial institutions, and examines the personal, cultural, organizational, and economic factors that account for the extraordinary growth and dynamism of the system since its founding in 1956. The authors also describe the lessons of the Mondragón experience they believe are applicable to the development of more successful industrial cooperatives in the U.S. and elsewhere. The first firm of the cooperative system of Mondragón was founded in 1956 by five men supported by a larger group of friends. By the end of 1976 the system had grown to 65 firms with 14,665 members.