Abstract: This article addresses issues concerning the Mondragon experiment of worker co-operatives in the Basque provinces of Spain. In many respects, the remarkable co-operative experiment of Mondragon demonstrates advantages of a co-operative economy. It is noted that Basque ethnicity does not appear to be a major factor to prevent the replication of the experiment. More problematical are the roles of linkages with local communities and limited labor mobility. It is also pointed out that stabilization is not achieved without a cost. The locking-in effect will tend to inhibit quantity and quality adjustment in co-operative labor markets, which must then adjust through implicit prices.

　　Subjects: LABOR market; INDUSTRIAL relations; PRODUCER cooperatives; COOPERATIVE societies; MONDRAGON (Spain); SPAIN