Abstract
There is no universally recognized economic theory of cooperation. In this part of the book, we review number of the main issues highlighted in the cooperative literature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
See Adams (1963). Akerlof and Yellen (1990) explain the “social exchange theory” in the field of sociology which is similar to equity theory.
- 2.
Stigler, G. J., 1968, p. 68.
- 3.
A third possibility is an oligopoly (with a kink in the demand curve) whereby competitors will follow a reduction in price but not a rise in price; see Sweezy (1939).
References
Abma, E. (1956). Boer en coöperatie in Nederland. Deel 1. - de coöperatieve gezindheid (No. Bulletin no. 4 en Deel 2—coöperatieve en niet coöperatieve boeren, Bull. No. 12, Afdeling Sociologie en sociografie van de Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen.
Alchian, A. A., & Demsetz, H. (1972). Production, information costs, and economic organization. The American Economic Review, 777–795.
Arrow, K. J. (1974). The limits of organization. New York, NY: Norton.
Axelrod, R. M. (1984). The evolution of cooperation. New York, NY: Basic books.
Barraud-Didier, V., Henninger, M. C., & Akremi, A. (2012). The relationship between members’ trust and participation in the governance of cooperatives: The role of organizational commitment. IFAMA, 15(1), 1–24.
Benos, T., Kalogeras, N., Verhees, F., Sergaki, P., & Pennings, J. M. E., et al. (2015). Cooperatives’ organizational restructuring, strategic attributes and performance: The case of agribusiness cooperatives in Greece. Agribusiness: An International Journal, 5, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.
Bijman, J., Iliopoulos, C., Poppe, K. J., Gijselinckx, C., Hagedorn, K., Hanisch, M., Hendrikse, G. W. J., Kuhl, R., Ollilia, P., Pyykkonen P., & van der Sangen, G. (2012). Support for farmers’ cooperatives; final report. Wageningen: Wageningen UR.
Boettcher, E. (1986). The co-operative in the competition of ideas. A European challenge.
Bonus, H. (1986). The cooperative association as a business enterprise: A study in the economics of transactions. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE)/Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 310–339.
Bou-Jawdeh, R. (2002). Analysis of trading delivery rights in the new generation cooperatives: The case of Avebe (M.Sc. Thesis), Mediterranean Institute of Chania, Greece.
Cechin, A., Bijman, J., Pascucci, S., & Omta, O. (2013). Decomposing the member relationship in agricultural cooperatives: Implications for commitment. Agribusiness, 29(1), 39–61.
Chaddad, F. R., & Iliopoulos, C. (2013). Control rights, governance and the cost of ownership in agricultural cooperatives. Agribusiness, 29(1), 3–22.
Challita, S., Sentis, P., & Aurier, P. (2014). Do cooperatives perform better than investor owned firms- the impact of governance of financial structure and performance. In “Cooperatives’ Power of Innovation”. Published by QUEBEC 2014 International Summit of Cooperatives.
Chamberlin, E. (1933). Theory of monopolistic competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chen, N. Y. F., Chen, M. H. C., & Tjosvold, D. (2010). Developing the strategic resources of Chinese entrepreneurial firms. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(3), 213–229.
Coase, R. H. (1937). The nature of the firm. Economica, 4(16), 386–405.
Cook, M. L., & Chaddad, F. R. (2004). Redesigning cooperative boundaries: The emergence of new models. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 86(5), 1249–1253.
Cook, M. L., & Chaddad, F. R. (2003). The emergence of cooperative organizational models: A property rights perspective; and vertical markets and cooperative hierarchies: The role of cooperatives in the international agri-food industry. Germany: Bad Herrenalb.
Cook, M. L., & Iliopoulos, C. (2000). Ill-defined property rights in collective action: The case of US agricultural cooperatives. In C. Menard (Ed.), Institutions, contracts, and organizations: Perspectives from new institutional economics (pp. 335–348). London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Cotterill, R. W. (1987). “Agricultural cooperatives: A unified theory of pricing, finance, and investment”, Cooperative theory, new approaches, ACS Service Report 18 (pp. 171–258). Washington, DC: U.S Department of Agriculture.
Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Prentice-Hall.
Davies, B., Blackstock, K., Brown, K., & Shannon, P. (2004). Challenges in creating local agri-environmental cooperation action amongst farmers and other stakeholders. Aberdeen: The Macaulay Institute.
de Tocqueville, A. (1969). Democracy in America, Oorspronkelijke titel: De la démocratie en Amérique. New York, NY: Anchor Books.
Dorsman, A. B. (1999). Vermogensstructuur en vermogensmarkt: van winst naar waarde. Deventer: Kluwer.
Douma, S. W., & Schreuder, H. (2002). Economic approaches to organizations (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Egerstrom, L. (2001). New generation cooperatives as an economic development strategy. In C. Merrett & N. Walzer (Eds.), A cooperative approach to local economic development. Westport, Connecticut and London: Quorum Books.
Eggertsson, Þ. (1990). Economic behavior and institutions: Principles of neoinstitutional economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ekeh, P. P. (1974). Social exchange theory: The two traditions. London: Heinmann Educational Books.
Enke, S. (1945). Consumer coöperatives and economic efficiency. American Economic Review, 35(1), 148.
Eschenburg, R. (1971), Ökonomische Theorie der genossenschaftlichen Zusammenarbeit., J. C. B. Mohr, Tübingen.
Eser, Z., & Peek, J. (2006a). Reciprocity and network coordination: Evidence from Japanese Banks.
Eser, Z., & Peek, J. (2006b). Reciprocity and network coordination: Evidence from Japanese Banks, Hi-Stat Discussion paper series ; No. d05-157, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
Etzioni, A. (1994). Jenseits des egoismus- prinzips. ein neues bild von wirtschaft, politik und gesellschaft, Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart.
Etzioni, A. (2000). The third way to a good society. Demos.
Fama, E. F. (1980). Agency problems and the theory of the firm. The Journal of Political Economy, 288–307.
Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2010). Cooperative behavior cascades in human social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(12), 5334–5338.
Fukuyama, F. (1995). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Free Press.
Fulton, M., & Giannakas, K. (2001). Organizational commitment in a mixed oligopoly: Agricultural cooperatives and investor-owned firms. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 83(5), 1258–1265.
Fulton, M. E., Fulton, J. R., Stephen Clark, J., & Parliament, C. (1995). Cooperative growth: Is it constrained? Agribusiness, 11(3), 245–261.
Gächter, S., & Herrmann, B. (2009). Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: Previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 364, 791–806.
Goldsmith, P. D., & Gow, H. R. (2004). Strategic positioning under agricultural structural change: A critique of long-jump co-operative venture. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 8(2), 1–21.
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 161–178.
Hansmann, H. (1996). The ownership of enterprise. Harvard University Press.
Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248.
Hardin, R. (1982). Collective action. Published for Resources for the Future by the Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hart, O. (1995). Firms, contracts, and financial structure. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Helmberger, P. (1966). Future roles for agricultural cooperatives. Journal of Farm Economics, 48(5), 1427–1435.
Helmberger, P., & Hoos, S. (1962). Cooperative enterprise and organization theory. Journal of Farm Economics, 44(2), 275–290.
Hobbes, T. (1651). Leviathan. New York, NY: Collier Books Edition, 1962. Cited by: Axelrod, Axelrod, R. (1984). The evolution of cooperation. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Jakoworski, B. J., & Kohli, A. K. (1993, July). Market orientation: Antecedents and Consequences. Journal of Marketing, 57, 53–70.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360.
Jia, X., & Huang, J. (2011). Contractual arrangements between farmer cooperatives and buyers in China. Food Policy, 36, 656–666.
Kahan, D. M. (2002). The logic of reciprocity: Trust, collective action and law. John M. Olin Center for studies in Law, Economics and Public Policy. Working Papers. Paper 284 http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/leep-papers/281.
Kalogeras, N., Dijk van, G., & Baourakis, G. (2007a). The market exchange of delivery rights within NGCs: Some empirical observations. Selected paper prepared for presentation at the International Conference on Economics and Management of Networks, EMNET, Rotterdam, The Nethrlands, 28–30 June, 2007.
Kalogeras, N., Pennings, J. M. E., Van Dijk, G., & Van der Lans, I. A. (2007b). The structure of marketing cooperatives: A market perspective. In K. Karantininis & J. Nilsson (Eds.), Vertical markets and cooperative hierarchies (pp. 73–92). Netherlands: Springer.
Kay, N. M. (1982). The evolving firm: Strategy and structure in industrial organization. London: Macmillan.
Klein, K. K., Richards, T. J., & Walburger, A. (1997). Determinants of co-operative patronage in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue Canadienne d’agroeconomie, 45(2), 93–110.
Kontogeorgos, A., Sergaki, P., Kosma, A., & Semou V. (2016). Organizational models for agricultural cooperatives: Empirical evidence for their performance. Journal of the Knowledge Economy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-016-0402-8.
Ladd, G. (1982). The objective of the cooperative association. In Development and application of cooperative theory and measurement of cooperative performance, ACS-USDA Staff Rep (pp. 1–23). Washington, DC: USDA.
LeVay, C. (1983). Agricultural co-operative theory: A review. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 34(1), 1–44.
Lin, C.-C., & Yang, C. C. (2010). Reciprocity and downward wage rigidity. Journal of Macroeconomics, 32(4), 1155–1168.
Ling, K. (2006). Measuring performance of dairy cooperatives (No. 212), RBS Research, US: United States Department of Agriculture.
Ling, K., & Liebrand, C. (1998). A new approach to measuring dairy cooperative performance (No. 166). Rural Business Cooperative Service RBS Research, US Department of Agriculture, p. 22.
Margolis, H. (1984). Selfishness, altruism, and rationality. University of Chicago Press.
Marshall, A. (1940). Principles of economics, 1891 (8th ed., Vol. 1). Macmillan.
McCahery, J. A., & Vermeulen, E. P. M. (2008). Corporate governance of non-listed companies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ménard, C. (2004). The economics of hybrid organizations. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE)/Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 345–376.
Menard, C. (2007). Cooperatives: Hierarchies or hybrids (ch1) In K. Karantininis & J. Nilsson (Eds.), Vertical markets and cooperative hierarchies (pp. 1–17). Springer.
Meulenberg, M. T. G. (2000). Voluntarily marketing institutions in food marketing systems. In A. van Tilburg, H. A. J. Moll, & A. Kuyvenhoven (Eds.), Agricultural markets beyond liberalization (pp. 213–233). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 242–266.
Arcas-Lario, Narciso, Martin-Ugedo, Juan Francisco, & Minquez-Vera, Antonio. (2014). Farmers’ satisfaction with fresh fruit and vegetable marketing Spanish cooperatives: An explanation from agency theory. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 17(1), 127–146.
Nilsson, J. (1998a). The emergence of new organizational models for agricultural co-operatives. Swedish Journal of Agricultural Research, 28(39), 47.
Nilsson, J. (1998b). Agency theoretical problems in cooperatives. Paper presented at the International Cooperatives Research Conference “Values and Adding Value in a Global Context”, ICA, 13–17 June, 1998, Cork Ireland.
Nilsson, J., & Germundsson, P. (2000). A new generation cooperative of old days. In M. Kirk & J. Karmer (Eds.), Festschrift in Connection with the 65th Birthday of Dr. Hans H. Muenkner. Germany: Marburg University.
Nilsson, J. (2001). Organizational principles for cooperative firms. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 17, 329–356.
Nilsson, J., Svendsen, G. L., & Svendsen, G. T. (2012). Are large and complex agricultural cooperatives losing their social capital? Agribusiness, 28(2), 187–204.
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press.
Nowak, M., & Sigmund, K. (1993). A strategy of win-stay, lose-shift that outperforms tit-for-tat in the Prisoner’s dilemma game. Nature, 364(6432), 56–58.
Nwankwo, U. M., Peters, K. J., & Bokelmann, W. (2009). Can cooperative membership and participation affect adoption decisions? Issues for sustainable biotechnology dissemination. AGbIOfORUM, 12(3&4), 437–451. Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.agbioforum.org.
Olson, M. (1965). The logic of collective action. Public goods and the theory of group. Harvard Economic Studies.
Osterberg, P., & Nilsson, J. (2009). Members’ perception of their participation in the governance of cooperatives: The key to trust and commitment in agricultural cooperatives. Agribusiness, 25(2), 181–197.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Perran, S., Bove, L., & Johnson, L. (2007). Reciprocity as a key stabilizing norm of interpersonal marketing relationship: Scale development and validation. Industrial Marketing Management, 38, 60–70.
Petersen, S. B. (2004). Cooperatives and the EU enlargement. Federation of Danish Cooperatives, Agriculture Council of Denmark, 2004. Retrieved 8 January, 2007, from http://www.danskeandelsselskaber.dk/view.asp?ID=11940.
Peterson, H. C., & Anderson, B. L. (1996). Cooperative strategy: Theory and practice. Agribusiness, 12(4), 371–383.
Phillips, R. (1953). Economic nature of the cooperative association. Journal of Farm Economics, 35(1), 74–87.
Pigou, A. C. (1950). The economics of welfare (4th ed.) London: Macmillan.
Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press.
Richards, T. J., Klein, K. K., Walburger, A. M., et al. (1998). Principal-agent relationships in agricultural cooperatives: An empirical analysis from rural Alberta. Journal of Cooperatives, 13.
Ripperger, T. (1998). Ökonomik des Vertrauens: Analyse eines Organisationsprinzips, Mohr Siebeck.
Ritossa, C. M., & Bulgacov, S. (2009). Internationalization and Diversification Strategies of Agricultural Cooepratives: A quantitative study of the agricultural cooperatives in the state of Parana. Brazilian Administration Review, 6(3, art 2), 187–212.
Robinson, J. (1933). The economics of imperfect competition. London: Macmillan.
Robinson, L., & Lifton, D. (1993). Convincing growers to fund cooperative marketing activities: Insights from the New York wine grape industry. Agribusiness, 9(1), 65–76.
Roy, E. P. (1981). Cooperatives: Development, principles, and management. Interstate Printers & Publishers.
Royer, J. S. (1982). A model for the short run production and pricing of cooperative associations. In Development and application of cooperative theory and measurement of cooperative performances (ACS Staff Report) (pp. 24–49). Washington, DC: USDA Agr Coop Services.
Royer, J. S. (1995). Potential for cooperative involvement in vertical coordination and value-added activities. Agribusiness, 11, 473–481.
Royer, J. S. (2004). Cooperatives: An economic and management perspective. http://agecon.unl.edu/royer/theory.pdf.
Russo, C., Weatherspoon, D., Peterson, H. C., & Sabbatini, M. (2000). Effects of managers’ power on capital structure: A study of Italian agricultural cooperatives. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 3(1), 27–39.
Saccomandi, V. (1998). Agricultural market economics: A neo-institutional analysis of the exchange, circulation and distribution of agricultural products. Uitgeverij Van Gorcum.
Samuelson, P. A. (1948). Economics: An introductory analysis. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Santos, F. C., & Pacheco, J. M. (2011). Risk of collective failure provides an escape from the tragedy of the commons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(26), 10421–10425.
Schmidt, J. (2004). Förderplus durch Information, Forschungsstelle für Genossenschaftswesen an der Universität Hohenheim, Diss. 24.
Schofield, N. (1985). Anarchy, altruism and cooperation. Social Choice and Welfare, 2(3), 207–219.
Sergaki, P., Partalidou, M., & Iakovidou, O. (2015). Women’s Agricultural Cooperatives in Greece: A comprehensive review and SWOT analysis. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship JDE, 20(1), 1–14.
Siegel, M. F., & Heffernan, W. D. (1997). The transnational challenge: Cooperatives and the global food system. Rural Cooperatives, 64(4), 6–10.
Simon, H. A. (1957). Administrative behavior. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Smith, A. (1776a). An inquiry into the wealth of nations. London: Strahan and Cadell.
Smith, A. (1776b). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Edinburgh.
Soboh, R. A. M. E. (2004). The financial performance of some large cooperatives in Europe, comparison and analysis (M.Sc.). Chania: International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.
Soboh, R. A. M. E., Lansink, A. O., Giesen, G., & Van van Dijk, G. (2009). Performance measurement of the agricultural marketing cooperatives: The gap between theory and practice. Review of Agricultural Economics, 31(3), 446–469.
Soboh, R. A. M. E. R., Oude Lansink, A., & van Dijk, G. (2011). Distinguishing dairy cooperatives from investor-owned firms in Europe using financial indicators. Agribusiness, 27(1), 34–46.
Sodano, V. (2006). A power-based approach to the analysis of the food system. In T. Bijman, S. W. F. Omta, & J. H. Trienekens (Eds.), International agri-food chains and networks (pp. 199–215). Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers.
Soegaard, V. (1994). Power-dependence relations in federative organizations. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 65(1), 103–126.
Sweezy, P. M. (1939). Demand under conditions of oligopoly. Journal of Political Economy, 47, 568–573.
Taylor, M. (1987). The possibility of cooperation: Studies in rationality and social change. Cambridge University Press Cambridge.
Torgerson, R. (2001). A critical look at new-generation cooperatives. Rural Cooperatives, 68(2), 15–19.
Uduma, I. S., Enimu, S., & Akanu, O. (2014). Sources of capitalization of cooperative societies in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, 2(11), 195–204.
USAID. (2016). Indicators to measure the economic sustainability and patronage value of agricultural cooperatives: Research and recommendations. United States Agency for International Development.
USDA. (2010). Cooperative statistics 2010. Washington, DC: USDA.
Vaarkamp, H. (2001). Over de ratio van coöperatie: een spelttheoretische benadering met een toepassing bij de mogelijke invoed van diergeneesmiddelen op voedselveiligheid. Wageningen: Wageningen Universiteit.
van Diepenbeek, W. J. J. (1990). De cooperatieve organisatie: Cooperatie als maatschappelijk en economisch verschijnsel. Delft: Eburon.
Van der Sangen, G. J. (1999). Rechtskarakter en financiering van de coöperatie: een onderzoek naar de civielrechtelijke kenmerken van de coöperatie in het licht van de vraag of daaruit beperkingen voortvloeien voor de financiering van haar ondernemingsactiviteiten. Deventer: W.E.J. Tjeenk Willink.
Van Dijk, G., Klep, G., & Egerstrom, L. (2005). When market fails: An introduction to cooperation (p. 12). Breukelen: Nationale CooperatieveRaad.
Van Dijk, G., Kalogeras, N., Pennings, J. M., & Van der Lans, I. (2004). Cooperation from the entrepreneurial perspective of members: Three case studies’. Vertical markets and cooperative hierarchies: The Role of Cooperatives in the International Food Industries, Chania: Maich.
Van Dijk, G. (1999). Evolution of business structure and entrepreneurship of cooperatives in the hortiand agribusiness. Finish Journal of Business Economics, 4, 471–483.
Van Dijk, G., & Poppe, K. J. (1992). Participatie in cooperatie (No. 405), Den Haag: LEI-DLO, p.
Vanni, F. (2014). The role of collective action (pp. 21–37). Netherlands, Dordrecht: Agriculture and Public Goods, Springer.
Veerhes, F., Sergaki, P., & van Dijk, G. (2015). Building up active membership in cooperatives. NEW MEDIT Journal, 1, 42–52.
Vitaliano, P. (1983). Cooperative enterprise: An alternative conceptual basis for analyzing a complex institution. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 65(5), 1078–1083.
Wiles, P.J. (1977). Economic institutions compared. Oxford: Blackwell.
Williams, R. C. (2007). The cooperative movement: Globalization from below. In ASHGATE (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility Series, p. 57 (Chapter 3).
Williamson, O. E. (1975). Markets and hierarchies, analysis and antitrust implications: A study in the economics of internal organization. New York, NY: Free Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Dijk, G., Sergaki, P., Baourakis, G. (2019). Cooperatives in Economic Literature—Capita Selecta. In: The Cooperative Enterprise. Cooperative Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16279-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16279-5_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16278-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16279-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)