74 research outputs found

    FINANCING OF GROWTH IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

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    Sources and uses of funds in agricultural cooperatives are examined and compared to the aggregate of nonfinancial corporations for the period 1973-1987. Cooperatives are observed to finance nearly half their growth with equity. The equity financing proportion of cooperatives is statistically indistinguishable from the national average of nonfinancial corporations in the years 1973-1983 and is consistently higher than the national average since 1984. This finding contradicts the hypothesis of equity shortage in cooperatives.Agribusiness,

    MERGERS, CONSOLIDATIONS, ACQUISITIONS: EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

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    Reorganization has been promoted as a means to strengthen the position of cooperatives within the agricultural economy. The purpose of this study is to determine if agricultural cooperatives that reorganized through merger, acquisition, or consolidation have improved their financial performance. Although the research suggests reorganization may not be beneficial to the strongest cooperative in either the short or longer run, at least 33% of the observed reorganizations can be classified as unqualified successes. The data include 53 cooperatives involved in 24 reorganizations.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

    TWIN CITY NATURAL FOOD CO-OPS: THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND CHARACTERISTICS WHEN CHOOSING AMONG STRUCTURAL OPTIONS

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    The demand for natural foods has been growing steadily over the past decade. As more mainstream grocers and investor-owned, natural food chains respond to this increased demand, the viability of local, independent natural food co-ops (TCNFCs) was used to assess organizational options. The study employed a customer survey to determine characteristics and preferences of co-op shoppers. The survey results were used in conjunction with a schema that analyzed the interaction among market forces, store differences, and customer factors to make recommendations to the TCNFCs. This analysis suggests that in the short run, these stores should employ a federated cooperative structure to accommodate a city-wide co-op membership and increase joint ventures among the co-ops. In the long run, the scale and scope of the federated co-op should be increased to enter new markets as a centralized co-op.Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Industrial Organization,

    Factors Affecting Increases in Economic Literacy among High School Students

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    Replaced with revised version of paper 07/27/07.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

    COOPERATIVE LABOR ALLOCATION UNDER UNCERTAINTY

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    Understanding the allocation of labor between collective and private activities within cooperatives has been an issue of interest for economists and policy makers. This paper extends existing literature by incorporating income uncertainty from both private and collective activities, and by assuming that members are risk averse. The analysis suggests a member's labor response to policy parameters can be decomposed into three components: the mean effect, reflecting the labor response under certainty or risk neutrality; the variance effect, reflecting the response to changes in risk; and the wealth effect, reflecting the response to changes in risk aversion associated with changes in wealth. The analysis demonstrates the labor response may be reversed from the certainty or risk neutral case, due to a stronger, opposing variance effect.Labor and Human Capital,

    RISK AND EQUITY IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

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    This research examines the effects of risk-related factors on the proportion of equity held by agricultural cooperatives. The empirical analysis indicates that capital structure is significantly affected by the level and variation of profitability, commodities handled, and market function. The proportion of equity is not affected by size or pooling. Contrary to expectations, the results indicate an inverse relation between profit variability and the proportion of equity. Cooperatives rely on profit for equity accumulation through retained earnings. If this source of equity is unstable, the cooperative may not be able to generate sufficient equity causing the estimated inverse relationship.Agribusiness,

    Performance of Cooperatives and Investor-Owned Firms in the Dairy Industry

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    A comparison of regional dairy cooperatives with investor-owned dairy firms from the period 1976-87 produced empirical findings that are at variance with the hypotheses suggested by the theory of cooperatives. The cooperatives in the sample performed significantly better than the IOFs when compared by leverage, liquidity, asset turnover, and coverage ratios, while the rate of return to equity was not found to be significantly different. Techniques are also proposed for valuing the nonmarket aspects of cooperatives that are not captured by financial ratio analysis.Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,
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