International comparison of insititutional frameworks and supporting measures for the nonprofit and co-operative organizations

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While the open government and efficient enterprises are the prerequisites for the socio-economic development in the 21^<st> century, the viable civil society should also be the corner stone for the sustainable development. Although the nonprofit and co-operative organizations are seen as the key players in building the civil society with greater expectations, the institutional arrangements and measures supporting them seem to be far behind in comparison with the advanced nations in Europe and North America. Therefore, this study dealt with the theme 'international comparison of institutional frameworks and supporting measures for the nonprofit and co-operative organizations'.While the term 'co-operative' has been understood per se, the term 'nonprofit' has not generally used in Japan. But 'nonprofit' or 'not for profit' is commonly used in other countries, and the NPO (Non Profit Organization) is widely introduced in our country.Therefore we sought to think about the future of the nonprofit and co-operative organizations in our country by examining their institutional frameworks in comparison with those in other countries. To this end we thought it important to make a research on written documents and visit some countries in Europe.This report is composed of two parts.Part I presents issues pertaining to the reform of the Consumer Co-operative Law under the new environment in Japan, which constitutes the core of the report.Part II deals with the institutional frameworks of nonprofit and co-operative organizations in other countries, mainly UK and Italy. Originally we intended to cover Germany and the EU, but the results of research will be published on the other occasion.The law is changing and should change with time. The corporation system that continued since the Meiji Era gave way to the new Law. It is expected to establish the civil society by using the new corporation system.