Cooperatives and the Commodity Political Agenda: A Political Economy Approach

Historically, major agricultural cooperatives in Canada have been intimately involved in commodity policy issues. Large cooperatives were created because farmers were upset about the perceived lack of competition in buying farm inputs or selling farm outputs. Often, the resulting cooperative was the organization farmers saw as the logical organization to represent their view of commodity policy or competition policy. As cooperatives grew and diversified, the ability to represent their members coherently across policy issues was hampered. For processing cooperatives in the supply-managed sector, the requirement that the cooperative be the political arm of industry, process product, and provide maximum returns to producer members made for a complicated objective function. This paper focuses on the twin objectives of providing efficient member services and performing political lobbying in a public choice framework. The results are illustrated by the recent history of a supply-managed further-processing cooperative and a diversified grain cooperative.     

新形势下我国农民专业合作社外部监管完善的必要性

《农民专业合作社法》颁布实施以来,我国专业合作社发展迅速,但空壳合作社较多,合作社套取国家优惠政策常有发生。与国际合作社相比,我国合作社数量不少但质量亟待提升。2007年以来我国"重扶持,轻监管"的合作社法律和政策体系是否适应专业合作社由数量发展向质量提升的新形势?我国农民专业合作社外部监管需要加快完善吗?本文通过构建政府与合作社间的演化博弈模型分析合作社经营过程中二者之间的博弈行为和策略均衡,然后结合案例进一步展开分析。研究结果表明:(1)政府监管对于促进合作社规范经营至关重要;(2)缺乏长效监管机制会导致一些合作社再次采取俘获行为;(3)新的时代背景下我国应加快完善专业合作社的监管体系,形成适合国情的有效监管体系,政府应该在立法和政策上加快推进完善合作社监管体系。     

President Biden's international trade agenda: Implications for the Canadian agrifood sector

The 4 years of the Trump administration was marked by a number of events and policies that affected the Canadian agrifood sector. Changes to preferential trade agreements, the collapse of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement framework, increased domestic support for US farmers, and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China all shaped international trade flows and created an environment of policy uncertainty. The Biden administration will change course on several important trade policy issues. We discuss how these changes could affect the Canadian agrifood sector along a number of dimensions, including a return to multilateralism, (re)engagement in preferential trade agreements, and movements toward a less combative and more predictable trade policy agenda. We expect Canadian agrifood trade flows under the Biden administration to exceed what they would have been under a second Trump administration.     

合作社参与对农户测土配方施肥技术采纳影响研究——基于标准化生产视角

本文基于收入最大化理论框架,以测土配方施肥技术为例,结合覆盖所有粮食主产区的微观调查数据,采用PSM模型实证分析了合作社参与对农户测土配方施肥技术的影响.研究结果表明:(1)合作社参与有助于提升农户测土配方施肥技术采纳水平;(2)合作社不仅能够通过技术培训促使农户主动采纳测土配方施肥技术,更主要通过标准化生产让农户被动...     

The Boundary of Smallholder Producers’ Cooperatives: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis

In this study we explain the concepts, determinants and imperatives of boundary in smallholder producers’ cooperatives both conceptually and empirically. The conceptual framework indicates the importance of the type of goods (being a club good or not) and range of activities that a cooperative provides to its members in defining a competitive boundary. Using unique organisational and market level data from Ethiopia, we then test empirically whether the observed (weak) performance of producers’ cooperatives in Africa is explained by their organisational boundary – the type and range of goods or services they provide to members. The empirical results confirm that the competitiveness of producers’ cooperatives is significantly correlated with the type and number of services – i.e. cooperatives that provide club goods and a limited range of services are found to be more competitive. The results also suggest that a considerable number of cooperatives in Ethiopia engage in markets where they do not have competitive advantage. Overall, we demonstrate the importance of properly defining a viable boundary – proper selection of services (or markets) and limiting the range of services – for improving the competitiveness of membership‐based producer cooperatives in Africa.     

农民合作社的基本能力对其规范程度的影响——以内蒙古多伦县为例

[目的]文章旨在实证分析农牧交错区农民合作社的基本能力对合作社规范程度的影响,农民合作社大规模发展的同时,合作社中大量不规范现象的存在,致使合作社难以发挥组织农民互助合作的作用,也使国家对合作社的各项扶持惠农政策落空,严重影响了合作社事业的健康发展。目前对于合作社“规范性”问题的特征与成因的分析多以理论思辨和个案探讨为主,并且研究对象多是南方山地丘陵地带的农民合作社。[方法]研究以农民合作社为对象,采用内蒙古自治区多伦县系统抽样得来的77个合作社横截面数据,通过系统收集的各合作社章程、惠顾返还数据及决策权分配情况作为合作社规范程度的考核指标。[结果]合作社的股权结构、理事长身份、信用等级、政府项目支持和销售市场都会显著影响合作社的规范程度而合作社的内部社会关系和股东背景在合作社规范程度方面无显著影响,拥有更好的制度表现和更广的销售市场的合作社更可能是规范合作社。[结论]合作社的基本能力对其规范程度有显著影响,农村能人担任理事长,并且股权结构更加平均分配的合作社更大概率是规范合作社。而外部支持如政府项目、信用等级和销售市场,对合作社规范程度也有显著影响。该研究从基本能力的角度进一步丰富和解释了农民合作社规范程度的影响因素,为农民合作社管理制度的完善提供了参考案例。     

Global and local food value chains in Africa: A review

The rapid expansion of agrifood exports from low- and middle-income countries and the contribution of global value chains to rural development are well-documented in the literature. Also, studies on modernization of domestic food value chains in these countries are emerging. Yet, the linkages between global and local value chains are rarely studied. On the one hand, the development and expansion of global value chains may create competition with local value chains for land, labor, water, soil nutrients, and other resources. On the other hand, positive spillover effects, such as investment, technical or institutional spillovers, may occur and spur the development of local value chains. In this article, we put forward a conceptual discussion on the type of linkages between global and local value chains, and how these depend on crop and value chain characteristics. We review the empirical evidence on these linkages. Our focus is on Africa, where agrifood exports and global value chains evolved rapidly and where challenges remain to upgrade and increase efficiency in local food value chains.     

The impact of coffee certification on small‐scale producers’ livelihoods: a case study from the Jimma Zone,Ethiopia

What is the impact of product certification on small‐scale farmers’ livelihoods? To what extent does the participation of Ethiopian small‐scale coffee farmers in certified local cooperative structures improve their socioeconomic situation? To answer these questions, this article employs household data of 249 coffee farmers from six different cooperatives collected in the Jimma zone of Southwestern Ethiopia in 2009. Findings show that the certification of coffee cooperatives has in total a low impact on small‐scale coffee producers’ livelihoods mainly due to (1) low productivity, (2) insignificant price premium, and (3) poor access to credit and information from the cooperative. Differences in production and organizational capacities between the local cooperatives are mirrored in the extent of the certification benefits for the smallholders. “Good” cooperatives have reaped the benefits of certification, whereas “bad” ones did not fare well. In this regard the “cooperative effect” overlies the “certification effect.”     

合作社嵌入对林农生态化经营非木质林产品的影响

以浙江省、江西省和福建省这3个省378户林农为样本,采用Logit模型分析合作社嵌入对林农生态化经营非木质林产品的影响。结果表明:合作社嵌入显著地促进林农生态化经营非木质林产品。此外,户主受教育年限、农户家庭林业收入所占比例、林种及家庭营林劳动力人数也在不同程度上促进林农生态化经营非木质林产品。因此,提出建立生态化经营试点示范;发挥核心社员的示范带动作用;开设针对性的生态化经营技术培训等建议。     

论《农民专业合作社法》的立法完善——以经济法的干预方式为进路

《农民专业合作社法》是一部旨在促进和扶持农民专业合作社健康发展的经济基本法。本文以经济法干预方式为进路对该法进行全面分析和解读,建议从合理界定农民专业合作社概念、放宽成员资格限制、健全民主表决机制、具体细化扶持措施、完善相关立法等角度完善该法,以期真正促进农民专业合作社的健康发展,实现立法初衷。     

Cooperative pricing and scale efficiency: The case of Korean rice processing complexes

Unlike most investor‐owned enterprises, cooperatives often have freedom to choose among a variety of firm objectives. Using 2002–2008 plant‐ and province‐level data, we ask in the present article which of several alternative maximands a Korean cooperative rice processing firm pursues. In contrast to earlier studies, farmer‐member supply functions are incorporated into the cooperative's optimization framework. We show that only large cooperative firms have operated at efficient scale, while small and medium‐sized ones have been scale‐inefficient. Because the latter operate where scale returns are increasing, mergers of small and medium‐sized cooperatives likely would be cost‐reducing and member‐return‐enhancing.     

Price premiums,payment delays,and default risk: understanding developing country farmers’ decisions to market through a cooperative or a private trader

Smallholder farmers in developing countries face a competitive disadvantage in modern agricultural supply chains. Joint marketing through cooperatives is a potential tool to mitigate these disadvantages; yet cooperatives’ success in these settings is uneven at best. We develop an analytical model to study a farmer's choice of selling to a private trader who pays cash on delivery but may exercise market power or a cooperative that promises a price premium but delays payment and carries a concomitant risk of default. In the presence of impatient and risk‐averse farmers, we show that these factors can severely limit smallholder patronage of a cooperative, despite a promised price premium. We then construct and parameterize a simulation model to fit a profile of heterogeneous farmers within a prototype developing‐country village, and study the optimal decisions of farmers regarding marketing through a cooperative versus a private trader. Results suggest that modest improvements in either timeliness of payment or probability of default can induce a substantial increase in a cooperative's market share and economic viability. Extending the simulation analysis to a dynamic setting shows how implementing reasonable policies to improve a cooperative's payment timeliness and default probability can markedly improve its growth trajectory.     

The Impact of Organizational Form on Producer Contracting Decisions

A variable that has not yet been considered in the contracting literature is the impact of agribusiness organizational form on the producer's contracting decision. Contracts with cooperatives are more complicated decisions for producers than a standard marketing contract with noncooperatives because of the requisite membership capital investment in the firm. Contracting with cooperatives requires producers to make a dual supply and investment decision. Individual membership equity holdings in all agricultural cooperatives are increasing, but they are generally most substantial in the value-added, new-generation cooperatives. Portfolio theory is used to analyze the producer's decision to contract with three alternatively structured value-added processing organizations in an uncertain environment: a traditional cooperative, a new-generation cooperative and an investor-oriented firm. In the cooperative cases, the contract requires both supply and equity investment.     

吉林省农民专业合作社的融资问题研究

农民专业合作社在国家政策支持下得到了快速发展,然而资金紧缺成为制约其发展的瓶颈。文章以吉林省农民专业合作社为例对其融资问题展开研究,针对吉林省农民专业合作社的发展现状,从资本构成、债务来源、融资困难程度等3个方面对融资现状进行分析,发现目前吉林省农民合作社债务融资比例较低,且民间融资成为其主要融资来源,多数合作社存在不同程度的融资困难。并选取影响农民专业合作社融资问题的合作社盈利能力、合作社抗风险能力、合作社管理机制、信用状况、涉农金融机构信贷倾向、涉农金融机构创新能力和政府政策等7个变量建立解释结构模型(ISM),最终得出信用状况和金融机构的创新能力是影响合作社融资的根本原因,合作社的盈利能力和涉农金融机构的信贷倾向是表层原因,合作社的抗风险能力、管理机制和政府政策则是通过底层信用状况和涉农金融机构的创新能力传导到表层。针对合作社融资难,该文从合作社、涉农金融机构、当地政府等方面,提出相应对策与建议。     

Performance Measurement of the Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives: The Gap between Theory and Practice

The performance of agricultural cooperatives depends on their business objectives, which are defined in different ways in the literature. We review the theoretical literature on the performance of agricultural marketing cooperatives. Studies can be divided into two classes, those that assume a single objective and those that assume multiple objectives. This classification integrates three views of the cooperatives: ( a ) vertical integration of firms, ( b ) independent enterprise, and ( c ) coalition of firms. Empirical studies on the financial performance of cooperatives are classified into two categories, studies based on the economic theory of the firm and studies that emphasize accounting techniques. Empirical studies have failed to address the cooperatives' objectives as represented by the theoretical literature on cooperative performance.     

Factors Influencing Organic and Fair Trade Coffee Growers Level of Engagement with Cooperatives: The Case of Coffee Farmers in Mexico

We study the factors influencing the percentage of organic and fair trade certified coffee sold through a cooperative by growers of five cooperatives in Mexico. The percentage of coffee sold through the cooperative was used as a proxy of growers’ engagement with a cooperative. Using factor analysis and a fractional probit regression, we evaluated the proposition that the level of engagement can be explained by transaction cost economics, social norms and connections, and farmer and farm business characteristics. We found that farm size, uncertainty regarding cooperative time of payment to the members and cooperative commitment on price to be paid negatively influence the level of engagement. In contrast, asset specificity, relational commitment, and price have a positive impact on engagement. Our results may help cooperatives and policy makers to build strategies aiming to increase this level of engagement. This is relevant because lower grower engagement has been found to be positively correlated with weak performing cooperatives.     

Big is efficient: Evidence from agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, there is a renewed interest in agricultural cooperatives as an institutional tool to improve the welfare of smallholder farmers. One of the pathways through which cooperatives benefit their members is scale economies. However, the establishment of cooperatives in Ethiopia seems to pay little attention to the size of the organizations. This article aims at investigating the effect of size on cost efficiency of agricultural cooperatives. More specifically, the purpose is to examine whether a single cooperative can serve a given number of farmers at a lower cost than two or more smaller cooperatives could. We employ the concept of cost subadditivity to compare the cost efficiency of large versus small cooperatives, and by extension unilateral actions. We estimate a flexible production technology using cross‐sectional cooperative‐level data. Findings show that costs would drop by 78% to 181% if farmers join hands in relatively large rather than small cooperatives.     

Neoliberalism and the revival of agricultural cooperatives: The case of the coffee sector in Uganda

Agricultural cooperatives have seen a comeback in sub‐Saharan Africa. After the collapse of many weakly performing monopolist organizations during the 1980s and 1990s, strengthened cooperatives have emerged since the 2000s. Scholarly knowledge about the state–cooperative relations in which this “revival” takes place remains poor. Based on new evidence from Uganda's coffee sector, this paper discusses the political economy of Africa's cooperative revival. The authors argue that donors' and African governments' renewed support is framed in largely apolitical terms, which obscures the contested political and economic nature of the revival. In the context of neoliberal restructuring processes, state and non‐state institutional support to democratic economic organizations with substantial redistributional agendas remains insufficient. The political–economic context in Uganda—and potentially elsewhere in Africa—contributes to poor terms of trade for agricultural cooperatives while maintaining significant state control over some cooperative activities to protect the status quo interests of big capital and state elites. These conditions are unlikely to produce a conflict‐free, substantial, and sustained revival of cooperatives, which the new promoters of cooperatives suggest is under way.     

Testing for the Presence of Financial Constraints in US Agricultural Cooperatives: An Investment Behaviour Approach

This study examines the presence of financial constraints in US agricultural cooperatives. We test the cooperative capital constraint hypothesis with a panel data econometric analysis of agricultural cooperatives’ investment behaviour. Regression results suggest that agricultural cooperatives’ capital expenditures are significantly affected by the availability of internal funds. Results also indicate that the sensitivity of investment to cash flow is correlated with cooperative structural characteristics.     

农民合作社减贫、增收效应与异质性分析基于中国西部贫困地区农户调研数据

目的 在脱贫攻坚视域中,农民合作社作为产业扶贫的重要载体,为乡村经济和社会发展提供动力,是农村地区反贫困合意、有效的组织化形态,对农民合作社减贫问题进行研究,具有重要的理论价值和现实意义。方法 文章利用2018年云南、贵州、陕西和甘肃4省7县1 393户农户的微观调研数据,采用分位数回归和倾向得分匹配法对农户参加农民合作社的增收效应进行了实证检验。结果 农民合作社可以有效改善农户家庭收入水平,参加农民合作社可以使农户家庭总收入平均提高38.04%;农民合作社对中高收入水平农户、非贫困农户、低学历农户的增收促进作用更为明显;另外,户主受教育年限、是否建档立卡、土地面积、村里面是否有农民合作社、人情往来支出对数、政府补贴津贴对数、是否参加专业培训等7个因素均提高了农户参加农民合作社的意愿,而户主年龄、学生数量、是否有外出务工人员等3个因素会降低农户参加农民合作社的意愿。结论 据此,应继续培育和发展农民合作社,提升农户参与农民合作社的意愿,强化农民合作社与贫困农户的利益联结,注重扶贫资源对于贫困农户获得的便利性。