The Legal Nature and the Economic Objective of the Cooperation

In this paper author presents the legal nature of cooperatives, the importance of association of individual economic entities in cooperatives, the importance of the continuity of business of these entities, especially those whose activities are related to agriculture in Serbia, since according to official data, more than half of the population in Serbia directly or indirectly subsist on agriculture. One of the characteristics of modern markets is that classical competition is increasingly giving way to cooperation that can significantly improve the competitiveness of businesses. Of course, this does not mean that any cooperation contributes to improving competitiveness, but only that which is established between “compatible” business partners. Cooperatives are associations of individuals who cooperate with the aim of achieving economic, social and cultural benefits for the cooperative and its members. Their cooperation is achieved on generally accepted principles. In researching the history of cooperatives, the author has come to the realization that various types of cooperatives in the developed world, a very widespread modality of cooperation between micro-business entities and are an important component of private sector development