FINANCING OF GROWTH IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

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

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

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,

COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF FOOD-PROCESSING COOPERATIVES AND INVESTOR-OWNED FIRMS

Agribusiness,

EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ON RECREATION USE AND VALUE: AN APPLICATION TO OFFSHORE RIGS IN CALIFORNIA

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Factors Affecting Increases in Economic Literacy among High School Students

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

COOPERATIVE LABOR ALLOCATION UNDER UNCERTAINTY

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

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,

Designing an institutional network for improving farm animal welfare in the EU

Improvements in the welfare of farmed animals in the EU have been achieved by legislation, increased welfare capacity in the food chain, greater public awareness, welfare measurement tools and dissemination of best practice. However, pressure for improvement grows. The EC recognises that delivering improved welfare would best be achieved by increasing welfare capacity, including establishing a Network of Welfare Reference Centres to provide support for welfare research, knowledge transfer and policy design. Designing a structure for this Network presents a challenge, as it would have multiple functions, interact with diverse stakeholders and operate in a complex environment. Here, we describe the use of a novel strategic planning approach to design an optimal structure for this Network. Our evaluation found that no existing structure was ideal, but that by taking functional units from several existing models, an optimal model could be identified

COOPERATIVES AND INVESTOR OWNED FIRMS: DO THEY MARCH TO THE SAME DRUMMER?

Agribusiness,