The present contribution has the task of making visible the associated labor cooperative companies, seeking the construction of tools and instruments for generating information from the System of National Accounts (SCN). In the region (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay), beyond local particularities, associated worker cooperatives (CTA) are recognized in the different legal systems as a type of company (Argentina Law 20,337, Brazil Law No. 5,764, Paraguay Law No. 438, Uruguay Law No. 18,407). The CTAs work in the production of goods and services of different natures. They are a significant factor in the map of cooperatives and their weight in the whole is relative depending on each country. The information available from primary (state) sources has problems of a different nature. In particular, we have no way of having analogous information on different indicators, and for this reason it is only possible to present what is available.

In Argentina, CTAs represent approximately 80% of all cooperatives. According to recent studies, 16,160 CTAs are counted, which represents 320,191 workers (INAES, 2023). In the Brazilian case, there is only data from the CTAs affiliated with the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB). According to the information available in the OCB, there are 655 CTAs, which make up 195,000 jobs. In the Paraguayan case, according to INCOOP data (^{Rodríguez & Achinelli, 2022}), there are 101 multi-active work cooperatives and 16 exclusive work cooperatives. In Uruguay there are 1,278 CTAs, bringing together a group of workers of 13,945 people. For all cases, the data correspond to both associated workers and dependent workers.

According to the literature survey and consultation with various academics in the region, the construction of information on CTAs is extremely fragile. This fragility is confirmed by observing the limited numbers available (number of cooperatives, workers, location, sectors of activity). The fragility of the aggregate numbers makes it difficult to analyze the impact of these entities in comparative terms. Variables such as the economic weight of the sector (production, services), or the income component of the workers, among other variables, are not organized or systematized. This weakness is a product of the difficulties of the cooperative sector itself, and mainly of the states. The states are responsible for the production of aggregate data on the economy through registries and other types of information collection instruments.

Statistically, it is an essential instrument for decision-making in any sector of activity. In that sense, we ask ourselves; What instruments could contribute to the generation of an information system for cooperatives? The experience of satellite accounts would seem to be an opportunity in that sense.

Satellite accounts are built from the SNA. The SNA constitute “a set of macroeconomic accounting relationships that allow monitoring the performance of large macroeconomic aggregates through standard definitions and classifications.” The SCN counts and produces “detailed data and information on the production, consumption and distribution of wealth disaggregated into many economic activities, goods and services” (^{Vargas et. al. 2023}; 14). The Satellite Account is a disaggregate of the SNA that focuses on specific sectors of the economy (tourism, education, fishing, etc.). The Satellite Account is based on the introduction of “complementary elements that allow us to better explain the existence of any reorganized transaction within the system” (Vargas et. al. 2023; 14).

A Satellite Account is built on specific variables and indicators of the economic field to which you want to reference. It requires, first of all, a clear definition of that economic field and its scope in terms of what it represents. Secondly, it requires an adaptation of variables and indicators, from which to select and collect the information. ^{Frechtling (1999}) understands that satellite accounts or systems “emphasize the need to expand the analytical capacity of national accounting on selected areas of social affairs in a flexible way, without overloading or disorganizing the central system” (Frechtling 1999; 42).

The Satellite Account allows obtaining information “on the macroeconomic magnitudes of a certain group of companies with homogeneous behavior such as production, added value, gross operating result, gross fixed capital formation, financing need or capacity, and instruments used to cover said need or place the financing capacity in the markets” (^{Barea, Monzón 2006}; 64). As part of the SNA, Social Economy Satellite Account (CSES) systems have been developed in some countries. The CSES seeks to make the social economy sector visible in the national accounts. The contribution of Barea and Monzón (2006) is based on two findings. Firstly, the relevance of a clear definition of what is meant by social economy, seeking a characterization of the different types of companies and “organizations that are part of it and the specific features that allow them to be distinguished from the rest of the entities that are part of it.” develop in the economic system” (Barea, Monzón 2006; 11). Secondly, the imperceptibility of the field of social economy in the SNA.

The field of social economy in Europe and Latin America brings together a diverse set of entities, companies, associations, informal groups, whose common characteristic is democratic control of decision-making. The entities of the social economy are spread across different sectors of economic activity, such as agricultural production, public services, savings and credit, insurance, housing, consumption and work. The CTAs constitute a relevant part of the field of social economy in the region. In countries like Argentina and Uruguay, they are significant in relation to the general set of cooperatives.

The need for a Satellite Account system in the SCN is also substantive for the generality of the cooperative system. However, CTAs have specificities that, I understand, must be prioritized by certain particular features of these organizations (political option), and by being part of a formal establishment (practical option). Firstly, due to the self-managed nature of the ventures. This implies an action that overcomes capitalist production relations where work is subordinated to capital. Secondly, due to the reproduction of democratic frameworks in companies, which has repercussions on other forms of cultural production, where people are at the center to the detriment of capital, and, thirdly, because it produces other types of workers, that link production and management from a perspective of democratic responsibility. A good performance of the information systems on the CTA would contribute in a double sense: to understand the scope of the economic phenomenon and its implications in this type of companies, and, on the other hand, improve the performance of these organizations and as a mirror of other multiple and new experiences.

To consolidate an information system through Satellite Accounts on the CTA, we propose some points to move forward: i) Precisely delimit the sector of activity based on reliable data on its general features, location, sector of activity, workers and networks. economics in which they are wrapped. ii) Develop an advocacy strategy within the CTAs and the cooperative sector as a whole, to understand the need to make information production instruments viable. iii) Rank the set of variables and indicators that should be considered in a CTA Satellite Account system. iv) Implement a process of impact on statistics managers at the SCN level, so that they adapt instruments for the identification and collection of information. The Satellite Account system is a necessary and pertinent tool to project cooperatives as spaces for satisfying needs, generating work and income, as well as producing a democratic and self-managed culture.