Growth of Investor Owned and Cooperative Firms in Greek Dairy Industry

This paper examines the factors that affect the annual growth of cooperatives and investor owned firms (IOF) in Greek diary industry over the period 1990–94. A comparison based on both cooperative principals and property rights theory is made between IOFs and cooperatives to study their characteristics. However an empirical work is required to explain differences, if any, in the growth of the two types of firms within the same market. The work examines the determinants of the annual growth and it tests whether significant differences between IOFs and cooperatives exist. Ordinary least squares results show that both diversification and advertising strategies are important determinants for IOF growth, while the cooperative growth depends on capital structure and intensity and these organizations do not effectively apply competitive strategies.     

Advertising,concentration and profitability in Greek food manufacturing industries

The conventional framework for cross-sectional studies of industrial organisation focuses on the hypothesised relations among structure, conduct and performance (SCP). This paper investigates these relationships for the food and beverage manufacturing industries in a European country, i.e., Greece. 3SLS method is used to estimate the parameters of the profitability, concentration and advertising model for a sample of 38 four-digit industries in 1994. The main results, which are in line with the relevant empirical work, show that profitability is determined by advertising, which, in turn, is affected by both profitability and concentration, while the latter is determined by economies of scale.     

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVES IN BRITAIN

The theory of the behaviour of the co-operative firm has greatly advanced in recent years though this has not been accompanied by a major resurgence of empirical study. This paper is aimed at a basic investigation of some of the structural features of the British cooperative movement over the period 1975-82. Using various concentration measures familiar in industrial economics it draws a sharp contrast between the requisite and marketing sides. It then focuses on economies of scale using Stigler's survivor technique concluding that there is little evidence of their existence in either sector. Diversification of activity is also considered, where again a contrast is evident. The paper concludes with a note on the policy relevance of the analysis.     

Profitability and Media Advertising in Greek Food Manufacturing Industries

The effect of advertising intensity in four media(television, radio, newspapers and magazines) on profitability is examined in this paper. Aprofitability model is tested using a unique 1993–1996panel data set of 350 Greek food manufacturing firms.Fixed effects results for the full model show thatonly television advertising increases profitabilitysignificantly. The results for eight major foodcategories estimated separately show importantdifferences between consumer and producer groups;television advertising effects on profitability arepositive and significant only in the consumerindustries where television advertising intensity ishigh. These findings show that television is the onlymedia where persuasive advertising exists in Greekfood manufacturing firms.