Corporate board governance has been the subject of many studies during recent decades. The
discussion has focused on the context of investor-owned corporations, while the discussion
on cooperatives is still quite ambiguous. In this study, a systematic review is conducted by
analyzing existing knowledge on the subject in 37 peer-reviewed articles covering all types of
cooperatives. As a result, the scope of the current academic literature on the factors of board
governance in cooperatives is shown to be narrow. The biggest gaps are seen in worker cooperatives
and to some extent in consumer cooperatives and by different factors in board contexts,
member participation and commitment as well as in director selection. Given that cooperatives
are multi-purpose companies, no studies were found that dealt with the topic of board
governance from the perspectives of sustainable development or responsibility.