Cooperativism as a tool for social and economic development

This exploratory study is based on analyzing how cooperativism has positively impacted people living in the city of Riobamba, Ecuador during a specific period, considering that in Ecuador, during the last decades, there has been a growth of cooperatives, especially financial and various services cooperatives.This work analyzes the reality of several people who used cooperativism, and how it helped change their lives and those of their families, as well as the environment in which they work in their various activities, taking as a reference local economic indicators to corroborate what is proposed.