Cooperatives are not only a legal form, but also a form of organisation, which is owned by a group of individuals. For gaining and sustaining competitiveness cooperatives are forced to grow into certain minimum optimal size categories. Common measures of size are turnover or total assets. But, for cooperatives the number of members has been a quite popular measure for cooperatives' success, size, and their attractiveness. Although often mentioned, the number of members has only been taken as a given value, ignoring the influence of the group itself on its own size. However, there has been no attempt to measure the potential size of a group and its growth dynamic under a given set-up. With the development of a strategic decision game for a hypothetical... |