State Owned Co-operatives

[Kamil]

What were some notable state owned co-operatives that existed in any socialist country in years past?
How did these enterpirses function?
What made them different from other state owned industries and private co-operatives?
Where does the concept originate from and how/why was it considered to be preferable?

[Desperado]

Contradiction in terms.

[Die Neue Zeit]

I think the OP means one of two things:

1) Workers "producer cooperatives with state aid (http://www.revleft.com/vb/pre-cooperative-worker-t88629/index.html)

2) A cooperative-state variant of the franchise model whereby the state owns the franchise rights, related trademarks, and other related intellectual property, then extracts economic rent from cooperatives wishing to use said franchise rights, trademarks, and other IP.

[Susurrus]

Do you mean like a kolkhoz in the Soviet Union and people's communes in the PRC?

[Kamil]

I thought the term a contradiction myself but I came across it somewhere, probably an odd translation.

But I did have in mind both 1 and 2 mentioned by Die Neue Zeit. Would anyone care to elaborate on any of the questions I posed in regards to the options listed by him?

What examples are there, if any, of the cooperative franchise model? Did they work?