Il finanziamento esterno delle imprese gestite dai lavoratori

IL FINANZIAMENTO ESTERNO DELLE IMPRESE GESTITE DAI LAVORATORI di Gaetano Cuomo Abstract EXTERNAL FINANCING OF LABOUR-MANAGED FIRMS Financing difficulties of labour-managed firms are considered one of the main obstacles to the spread of such type of enterprise and the construction of a democratic enterprises system, parallel to the capitalistic one. This paper shows that financing difficulties are particularly present in producer co-operatives operating in capitalistic countries, due to special property rights to which they are subjected. The solution including financing of a LMF type enterprise by means of special bonds, that do not confer the right to vote to the holder (bonds and quasi-shares), is examined. The paper shows, however, that this type of financing is a necessary but not sufficient condition to guarantee the correct financing to labour-managed firm. In fact, once again, creditor third parties could fear a discriminatory behaviour towards them, in presence of co-financing from the partners, in case of difficulties. Conditions under which external financing is a viable solution are finally examined.