Gustavo Marcos-Matás
Universidad de Murcia
Gustavo Marcos is a Marketing graduate, Master and PhD in Business Management Sciences. He is associate professor in ISEN University Centre and adjunct professor in the University of Murcia in the Business Management Department. He has published papers in international agricultural economics scientific journals (2), national journals (4) and participated in one book.
TOPIC 7- STAGE 3 –MICRO There is a wide consensus that capitalisation is one major prerequisite for cooperative’s success (Fulton, 1999; Zeuli and Betancor, 2005; Österberg and Nilsson, 2009). In order to acquire the... [ view full abstract ]
TOPIC 7- STAGE 3 –MICRO
There is a wide consensus that capitalisation is one major prerequisite for cooperative’s success (Fulton, 1999; Zeuli and Betancor, 2005; Österberg and Nilsson, 2009). In order to acquire the required capital to implement these growth-related strategies and remain competitive, agricultural cooperatives need to encourage their members to participate on equity raisings. As commented by Chaddad et al. (2005), it has been suggested that financial constraints are the ‛Achilles’ heel’ of cooperatives in an increasingly concentrated, tightly coordinated and capital-intensive food system (Vitaliano, 1983; Cook, 1995). Investments in R&D in Italian cooperatives are usually an insignificant part of the strategies adopted by agri-food cooperatives; this is also common in the majority of non-cooperative, agri-food firms (Bono, 2012).
In this regard, the objective of this work is to analyse how members’ commitment can explain the capitalisation of the cooperative and therefore its innovation capacities and performance.
Data from 50 agrifood cooperatives from Emilia-Romagna were obtained. Data has been gathered with a web survey sent by e-mail and telephone follow-up contacting was deemed. Results show how the level of members’ commitment can explain the capitalisation of the cooperatives, and this is also positively related with innovation and performance of the cooperative.
References
Bono, P. (2012). Support for Farmers’ Cooperatives; Country Report Italy. Wageningen: Wageningen UR.
Chaddad, F.R., Cook, M.L. and Hecklelei, T. (2005). “Testing for the presence of financial constrains in US agricultural cooperatives: an investment behaviour approach”, Journal of Agricultural Economics¸ Vol. 56, nº 3, pp. 38-397.
Cook, M.L. (1995). “The future of U.S. agricultural cooperatives: a neo-institutional approach”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 77, nº 5, pp. 1153-1159.
Fulton, M. (1999). “Cooperatives and member commitment”, Finnish Journal of Business Economics, Vol. 48, nº 4, pp. 418-437.
Österberg, P. and Nilsson, J. (2009). “Members’ perception of their participation in the governance of cooperatives: the key to trust and commitment in agricultural cooperatives”, Agribusiness: An International Journal, Vol. 25, nº 2, pp. 181-197.
Vitaliano, P. (1983). “Cooperative enterprise: an alternative conceptual basis for analysing a complex institution”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 65, nº 5, pp. 1078-1083.
Zeuli, K. and Betancor, A. (2005). “The effects of cooperative competition on member loyalty”, en 2005 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, November.
